The first trailer for Marvel's Thunderbolts movie has finally appeared online – but not in the way that the comic book giant would've wanted it to.
Yesterday (August 13), a pirated copy of the Marvel Phase 5 film's first teaser, which was exclusively shown at San Diego Comic-Con in late July, was uploaded to various social media platforms, including X/Twitter and Reddit. The bootleg trailer's release came hours after a number of screenshots from said footage surprisingly appeared online, which gave non-Comic-Con attendees their first official look at one of Marvel's three new movies that'll debut in 2025.
For legal reasons, I won't be posting the aforementioned leaks here – and, frankly, I'd rather see an official, high definition version of the Thunderbolts' first trailer than a grainy, second-hand recording than someone filmed on their phone. Marvel and Disney, the former's parent company, did not respond to my request for comment on the leaks by the time of this article's publication.
The film trailer leak is just the latest issue that's plagued Thunderbolts ever since Marvel's next big Avengers-like team up movie was rumored to be in development in June 2022. Officially announced one month later, the superhero flick was expected to launch in theaters in June 2024, but it's since suffered a few setbacks that led to its theatrical launch being pushed back by nearly 12 months.
Indeed, from the 2023 Hollywood strikes that forced Marvel to delay multiple movies to the departure of key Thunderbolts cast members like Steven Yeun and Ayo Edebiri, only Marvel's Blade movie reboot has endured more headache-inducing difficulties than this ensemble flick has. Thankfully, Marvel's Thunderbolts finally rode out its creative storm to start filming in late March, with principal photography surprisingly wrapping just three months later.
What does the first Thunderbolts trailer tell us about the Marvel movie?
Mild spoilers follow for Marvel's Thunderbolts movie. You have been warned.
As I mentioned, I haven't watched the leaked teaser, but there are plenty of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans who have. Judging by some of the comments I've read, it seems those who have viewed the trailer are pleasantly surprised at how good it looks, with the movie's paranoid thriller vibes, elaborate action sequences, and impressive gelling of its ensemble cast being evident in the footage.
Speaking of its eccentric cast of characters, we know Thunderbolts will feature many familiar faces and a couple of new MCU additions. Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and David Harbour's Alexei Shoshtakov/Red Guardian, who made their debuts in 2021's Black Widow, long time MCU actor Sebastien Stan, who returns to play Bucky Barnes for what seems like the umpteenth time, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus – she's portraying Valentina Allegra de Fontaine again – are the most notable actors who'll feature.
According to those that watched the teaser, Barnes is now a US congressman who reluctantly joins the other two, who appear to Thunderbolts' primary leads, on the film's dysfunctional anti-hero roster for a covert mission planned by Fontaine. That assignment appears to center around a mystery character named Bob Reynolds, who Yeun was supposed to play before his departure. Top Gun: Maverick's Lewis Pullman replaced Yeun as Reynolds in Thunderbolts a few weeks after the latter left the project. Diehard Marvel fans will know all about Reynolds' backstory from the comics – essentially, he's an amnesiac superhero known as Sentry – but I'll refrain from spoiling anything else here in case elements of his comic book history are used in the film.
Joining the previously mentioned actors in front of the camera are Wyatt Russell as John Walker/US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel, Fontaine's assistant. There are rumors that Harrison Ford's Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross could cameo, though this is unconfirmed as of August 2024.
Written by Joanna Calo, Lee Sung Jin, and Eric Pearson, and directed by Jack Schreier, Thunderbolts will launch in theaters on May 2, 2025.
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