One upcoming 2025 Marvel Studios movie should have plenty of fans looking forward to its release after a positive test screening update from one of its stars.
The MCU hopes to make a major comeback in theaters in 2025 after Deadpool & Wolverine was the studio's only theatrical release of 2024 (see the box office records Deadpool & Wolverine broke here).
As of writing, at least MCU three films will be released in 2025 — Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Along with a highly-anticipated first look at Pedro Pascal from the Fantastic Four set, trailers for Captain America 4 hope to ramp up hype for the franchise in the near future.
Positive Tests Screenings from 2025 Marvel Studios Movie
Thunderbolts* star David Harbour gave fans an update on the status of his 2025 Marvel movie after internal test screenings were completed.
The film does pose a significant risk for Marvel Studios, being one of the few team-up franchises outside of the Avengers movies. The Marvels proved how difficult it can be to attract an audience when crossing over several franchises, leading to it becoming the MCU's biggest box office bomb ever.
It is also the only MCU film to debut next year without any sort of pre-established franchise to come before it as Captain America: Brave New World and Fantastic Four have with their past iterations and films. On top of all that, having a group of misfits leading a superhero movie could be a harder sell to general audiences, even if it has worked for certain films like Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, the Red Guardian actor has received positive word about the upcoming film.
Speaking with ComicBook, Harbour explained how he can't "look outside for critiques" because of how quickly viewers form opinions on any particular movie.
He urged fans to give movies like Thunderbolts* a chance before writing them off:
"Making a movie, you can't really look outside for critiques because everybody, everybody sees the poster and they have an opinion. You're like, 'just watch the two-hour movie and if you still hate it. Great. Love it? Great.' But, like, you've got to give us a chance. I think all the speculation in the world is like my fantasies about dying or what. I mean, it's like you can fantasize about horrific things or whatever until you actually see the thing."
Moving on, he shared how proud he was of the new MCU movie, having heard that it was "playing well internally" in test screenings and feeling it would "really surprise people:"
"I'm very proud of this movie, what we shot. I hear it's playing well internally and I'm excited for people to see it. I think it's going to really surprise people. I think people have seen from the trailer, from the shots. I think it's a pretty cool direction of the MCU's sort of making now. And I'm excited to be a part of that."
Although Thunderbolts* had a trailer play exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, fans have not seen any official footage or marketing for the film yet.
Will Thunderbolts* Be a Hit for the MCU?
Thunderbolts* has a lot riding on its shoulders, as it is still scheduled to be the final movie of the MCU's Phase 5 slate upon its May 2025 debut.
Thankfully, David Harbour seems to have plenty of confidence in how it will perform as he takes on his second MCU movie after 2021's Black Widow.
While this outing is just the latest MCU team-up entry, it will take a new route as the first Marvel Studios film to focus on a team of villains/antiheroes. It will also deal with ramifications from close to half a dozen past MCU projects, adding a new layer of connectivity to the overarching story for the whole franchise.
Combine those aspects with Florence Pugh's rising star power as Yelena Belova, Lewis Pullman's debut as the all-powerful Sentry, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' continued run as the conniving Val, and there is plenty to look forward to.
The first exclusive trailer for Thunderbolts* gave fans numerous exciting updates, although it will likely be a few weeks or months until anything is revealed publicly. Part of that mystery lies in the title itself as fans wonder what in the world the asterisk is supposed to mean.
However, after Thunderbolts* had its release date switched with Fantastic Four (moving it up by almost three months), Marvel appears confident in what it will deliver behind this team.
Thunderbolts* is set to arrive in theaters on May 2, 2025.
