Marvel's Thunderbolts (2025): Release date, cast, what to expect, and everything we know so far

Thunderbolts, the upcoming Marvel Studios film, will be released in theaters on July 25, 2025. The anticipated antihero film was recently in the headlines when it was revealed that Steven Yeun, who was to play The Sentry, dropped out of the flick.

One of the more fascinating Marvel films on the 2025 MCU schedule is Thunderbolts. The project, which was initially revealed in June 2022, has remained private since then, but comic book readers will be aware that it would bring together some of Marvel's greatest anti-heroes for the first time. So without further ado, Here's all we know about the movie.

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When is Marvel's Thunderbolts coming out?

The movie's filming was supposed to begin in the summer of 2023, but the writers and actors' strikes caused a delay. After being rescheduled from July 26, 2024, it was originally supposed to open in theaters on December 20, 2024. It's anticipated that the movie will begin production in the spring of 2024.

Thunderbolts will finally open in theatres on Friday, July 25, 2025. Another interesting piece of information is that Yeun would have probably already finished filming his role as The Sentry if there hadn't been this delay due to the strikes as the actor himself said in an interview with Variety:

“I think for me, time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it, But Jake (Schreier), I know, is going to do an incredible job.”

According to current plans, Thunderbolts will be one of the three MCU films released in 2024, along with Deadpool 3 and Captain America: Brave New World.

Marvel studios has finally recognized that the MCU fatigue is real following the box office bombing of its films likeAntman and the Wasp: Quantummania and The Marvels.

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Marvel's Thunderbolts: Cast details explored

Lee Sung Jin wrote the script for the upcoming Thunderbolts (based on an earlier Eric Pearson script). The anti-hero flick is set to be directed by Jake Schreier, who is known for directing an episode of Beef, the limited Netflix series.

With Steven Yeun out of the picture (quite literally), the cast of this film is now Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Star/Ghost), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Olga Kurylenko (Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine).

David Harbour, who will reprise his role as the Red Guardian from Black Widow (2021), discussed the film and how it will progress his character's relationship with Yelena. He said during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in December:

“I started working on it already and it’s like phenomenal. Again, it’s hard to these projects because I sound like such a dumb idiot so all I say is like that’s a great script. …. you know, these Marvel writers are writing incredible epic stories, and they’re letting the Red Guardian do stuff that he’s never done before.

"That relationship with Yelena, we get to go into that more, and it’s funny and satisfying in a real emotional way. Yeah, I’m just really blessed with these two amazing projects that aren’t shooting.”

Along with the star-studded cast, Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross from Captain America: Brave New World (previously New World Order), marking his second MCU outing. The Star Wars and Indiana Jones actor is taking William Hurt's place after his death in March 2022.

In 2008, Hurt made his film debut as Ross in The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton. However, reportedly by the time of the new Captain America film, Ross is now the President of the United States of America.

Deadline reported that Ayo Edebiri, star of the popular culinary drama The Bear, will be joining the main cast in an unspecified role.

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What to expect from Marvel's Thunderbolts? Plot and more

There are no definite storyline specifics concerning Thunderbolts at this time, despite the legends of the anti-hero team transcending decades in the comics. In retrospect, the pieces of knowledge we have about the movie come from other Mcu media.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic characters. She appeared in the end credits sequence in Black Widow (2021) after being first seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). It was evident that she was enlisting some of the MCU's most dubious and ethically gray characters.

After The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s last episode, Wyatt Russell's character John Walker reluctantly assumed the role of Captain America before being rehired by Valentina under the guise of “ US agent.”

Similarly, In the Black Widow post-credits sequence, Yelena was given the task of killing Clint Barton by Valentina, whom she hd held accountable for Natasha's demise in Avengers: Infinity War.

It appears that the MCU is moving toward a Dark Avengers-style squad led by the most shady government officials. One can even go further and compare the upcoming team to a preexisting DCU team, namely the Suicide Squad.

The Thunderbolts are often compared to DC's Suicide Squad, and this is an accurate contrast considering that members of both teams are not the best fit to form a "Hero Team".

However, there's a significant distinction in the teams' justifications for carrying out the nefarious tasks assigned by the US government.

Due to tiny explosives implanted in their skulls, the members of Task Force X or the Suicide Squad are compelled to go on missions where their chances of preservation are extremely slim.

Things are a bit different with the Thunderbolts. The team's shared objective is to portray villains as rehabilitated for the public's image, as opposed to sending them on suicide missions.

It will be interesting to see how the MCU adapts this iconic anti-hero team on the big screen. The real storyline of the film will only be revealed once Thunderbolts hits theaters on July 25, 2025.