Following a viewing of a Comic-Con exclusive Thunderbolts* trailer, fans learned a few things about what will happen in the new MCU team-up film.
Serving as a semi-sequel to 2021's Black Widow, Thunderbolts* will bring back multiple characters from that solo movie alongside multiple villains and anti-heroes from across the MCU.
The team for this movie will be far different than its Marvel Comics counterpart, and it will follow up on multiple Infinity Saga and Multiverse Saga outings to bring this darker team of powered players to life.
7 Things Fans Learned from Thunderbolts* Trailer
Marvel Studios showcased a trailer for 2025's Thunderbolts* during its presentation at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
Below are the biggest reveals and new things fans learned from that footage:
Yelena Belova is "Lost" Post-Hawkeye
Following her appearances in Black Widow and Hawkeye, the path forward appears unclear for Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts*.
Reuniting with David Harbour's Red Guardian, she says to him, "There’s something wrong with me" while describing "an emptiness" inside of her. Explaining how she felt she was "just drifting" without a purpose, she hoped that throwing herself into her work would solve her problems.
The end of Hawkeye changed Yelena's world after Clint Barton told Yelena the truth about how Natasha Romanoff died in Avengers: Endgame. Combine that with her clear distrust of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss' Val as far back as Black Widow's post-credits scene, and she has no shortage of trouble to handle this time around.
Now, with this film putting Yelena front and center as the lead character, she'll have ample opportunity to realize her full potential and purpose.
The Winter Soldier Becomes a Congressman
As was teased by U.S. Agent star Wyatt Russell with ComicBook, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes takes on a new and unexpected role in Thunderbolts* — United States Congressman.
The trailer only shows Bucky for a few moments, although one scene shows him walking into a session of Congress fully decked out with a suit and American flag pin. He also boasts a new goatee and a trimmed-up hairstyle as he acclimates to his new environment.
While later footage sees Bucky back in action as a superhero (including pulling his metal arm out of a dishwasher), his new role in Congress will give him room to evolve further as a character.
He'll also serve as the de facto leader of this new team, giving him yet another wild challenge as he hopes to reign in a team of darker characters.
U.S. Agent is a Father
Returning to the MCU for the first time since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is Wyatt Russell's John Walker, suiting up once more as the U.S. Agent. However, this movie will put the former Captain America in a different position, at least for some of the story.
Early footage shows Walker sitting in a chair scrolling through the news on his phone, seemingly looking for motivation or dirt in articles written about him online. It also appears that he has a young daughter standing up in a crib next to him, giving depth to the character.
This tracks with his MCU debut after fans saw him married, although there were no signs then that they were already raising a family as he was not the focus of that Disney+ show.
Whether this status as a father will affect him through this movie is still unknown, although fans already saw him with his wife on multiple occasions in his first Disney+ appearance.
Lewis Pullman's Mystery Character is "Bob"
Only seen for a moment in this trailer is Top Gun: Maverick's Lewis Pullman as he plays a mysterious character named Bob.
As Yelena, Ghost, and U.S. Agent meet in an undisclosed location, they come across Bob in hospital scrubs wondering why everybody was sent there. Seemingly in a haze, he simply keeps his hands up as the four of them are trapped in the room together.
Later in the trailer, he is seen with bullet holes in the scrubs before gunmen shoot at him, although the bullets seem to bounce right off his body without a scratch.
This almost confirms that "Bob" is short for Robert Reynolds, who later evolves into Sentry — one of the most powerful characters in Marvel lore.
Some have theorized he may be the ultimate threat the Thunderbolts have to face in this movie, and he would not be easy for them to take down if true.
Thunderbolts' Initial Mission is Top-Secret
Similarly to the DC's Suicide Squad, who the Thunderbolts are often compared to, the Marvel team's mission appears to be need-to-know to start the film.
As far as those watching can tell, the team members are unaware of what they are getting themselves into as soon as they meet one another looking at to their hostility toward each other.
Even when they eventually meet Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, she does not indicate why they are there together. Unsurprisingly, Marvel hopes to keep those deeper plot points hidden until the film gets closer to its release.
New Costumes for Ghost, Taskmaster, & More
As is the case with most Marvel movies, Thunderbolts*'s characters get a wardrobe upgrade upon their return to the MCU. Outside of Red Guardian's new threads seen at Comic-Con (per Marvel), both Ghost and Taskmaster were seen donning exciting new outfits.
Instead of Ghost's grey armor and mask featuring red eyes from Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hannah John-Kamen's Ava comes in with an almost all-black getup and a mask featuring a white plate covering her entire face. There are also flowing bits of fabric falling from her waist over her legs.
Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster gets a new set of threads in this film as well, although her core suit looks similar to her outfit in Black Widow. Her biggest change also manifests in a white mask, this one featuring black eyeholes as she wears a black hood over it.
While these are sure to be far from the only costume changes in Thunderbolts*, these will have fans talking until new images are revealed.
Avengers Tower Buyer Revealed?
One of the biggest questions since the Infinity Saga is who bought Avengers Tower when Tony Stark sold it before Spider-Man: Homecoming. Well, the closing shot of the Thunderbolts* trailer may have revealed the answer — Val.
The core cast all assemble to meet Val in a room with a wall of windows that looks suspiciously like the place the Avengers called home for a few years in Phase 2 and Phase 3. Considering her likely ambition to use this team for some nefarious goals, it would not be shocking if she were now in charge of this building.
Revealed to be the director of the CIA in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Val would certainly have the resources to purchase this building should she have wanted to. It would also be a perfect high-tech home base for her to go after what she wants, which could end up being a valuable resource like Adamantium.
After multiple interviews over the years have teased who now controls this building, this trailer could finally solve that dilemma for fans.
Thunderbolts* is due in theaters on May 2, 2025.
Read more about Thunderbolts* below:
Florence Pugh Explains Why Yelena Needed a Big Change After Black Widow
Marvel's 2024 Crossover Movie Gets Exciting Character Update
