The forthcoming MCU movie Thunderbolts will not only bring together a misfit superhero team but also serve as a “unique” climactic event for Marvel’s Phase 5 slate, per one of its stars.
The Thunderbolts movie will see Valentina Allegra de Fontaine assemble an Avengers-type squad of her own, featuring the likes of Yelena Belova, Taskmaster, and others, including David Harbour's Red Guardian.
Primed for a 2024 release, Thunderbolts will also serve as the grand conclusion to Marvel Studios’ Phase 5 and will presumably pay off on longstanding plot threads.
David Harbour, who will be reprising his Black Widow role of Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian in the movie, recently hyped up the film, promising action, laughs, and more, all while capping off Phase 5.
David Harbour Promises Exciting End to Phase 5
Speaking with Comicbook.com, Thunderbolts star David Harbour dropped some interesting tidbits of information for the 2024 Marvel film Thunderbolts, including that he’ll be having a look at the script “very soon.”
“I know we go to work next year. I have not read a script but I have been told the arc of the story and how the story goes. And apparently we’ll be reading a script very soon. But it’s cool… It’s very unique. And also, it has all this cool action and cool comedy from what has been described to me. And then there is a bomb drop thing that we add to the universe, which will be very exciting for the movie to do at the end of this particular phase… whatever. Phase ‘whatever’ that we’re ending.”
Of note is this “bomb drop” that Harbour is teasing. It seems there’s a major surprise in store for Thunderbolts. Given the nature of the MCU though, this could mean just about anything.
The actor also discussed his preparation for the movie, noting that he “trained harder” than ever before.
“Yeah, unfortunately, I told them… ’Cause I trained harder for this that I’ve ever trained for anything. And the jiu-jitsu and the Greco-Roman wrestling, which you don’t even see a lot in [Violent Night]. There was other choreography, which we talked about doing. There was a whole discipline that we developed with him and I got good at this really fascinating stuff. Unfortunately, I told the director of Thunderbolts what I was doing and how good I was getting at this stuff and he was like, ‘Alright, well then, we’re gonna write some more of that stuff.’ So, I’m worried… My knees are worried.”
Will Thunderbolts Actually End Phase 5?
To lay everything out, Thunderbolts has been billed as the film that closes out Marvel Studios’ Phase 5, with Fantastic Four kicking off Phase 6. However, Deadpool 3 is confirmed to release between those two films, and it's very likely that Blade will as well.
Not to mention that there will probably be Disney+ MCU projects dropping in the interim between Thunderbolts and FF. And that’s not even taking into account Spider-Man 4, which is rumored to release in mid-2024.
So, do these other projects exist outside the traditional Phase structure? It’s worth noting that The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, while releasing between Phases, is specifically said to serve as an “epilogue” to Phase 4, after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
With that in mind, it’s very possible that Thunderbolts is indeed the conclusion of the fifth Phase of the MCU, and everything after it will be transitional content until the release of Fantastic Four.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts is set to hit theaters on July 26, 2024.
