Thunderbolts* draws comparisons to ‘A24-feeling assassin movie’ and Toy Story 3

By Dan Girolamo Published March 6, 2025

Thunderbolts* will be the next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The eclectic group of misfits is forced to team up on a dangerous mission that will result in glory or death. One of the Thunderbolts is Yelena Belova, played by Florence Pugh. Unlike the Avengers, the Thunderbolts have been passed over by society. They are not heroes like Captain America and Thor. Even the film’s director, Jake Schreier, is an indie filmmaker, not an experienced blockbuster director.

This underdog mentality gave Thunderbolts* a different tone, one that Pugh described to Empire as a “badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes.”

Besides Yelena, the unconventional team includes Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell). Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the mastermind and creator of the Thunderbolts.

Many of these characters have nothing in common, which makes for good drama, considering they must work together. Schreier cited Reservoir Dogs, Ronin, and Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol as inspiration for incompatible characters forced to work together. Schreier added that a pivotal scene from Toy Story 3 captured the emotional message he wanted to implement in Thunderbolts*.

“It [Toy Story 3] wasn’t as focused on a genre as much as dynamics amongst characters. They all have that dynamic of a team that is thrown together,” Schreier said in an interview with Empire. “That [furnace] sequence works so well because you’ve come to care about these characters so much. Can they get out of the trash can together?”

Thunderbolts* also stars Geraldine Viswanathan, Lewis Pullman, Chris Bauer, and Wendell Edward Pierce.

Thunderbolts* opens in theaters on May 2, 2025.