Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier has teased his star-studded team-up movie, explaining that it will offer “something different” to past MCU entries, so it might not align with audience expectations.
Schreier, who helmed six episodes of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Beef, told ScreenRant Thunderbolts would likely stand out from other MCU ensemble films like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. This is because he is taking a fresh approach and giving additional insight into pre-existing characters from the Marvel canon.
“I can’t say what it is, but I can say that there is something different,” Schreier teased. “And I think that, again, when you look at something like Beef, there’s a specificity of character that then makes the whole thing feel more universal because it comes from something so personal.
“I think that something that was exciting about Thunderbolts is it’s not a sequel,” he continued. “It’s a new story, and it’s a set of characters that maybe we’ve met a little bit in the MCU before, but this is a very new take on who they are and what brings them together. Probably not what people are expecting from it, but I guess I can’t really say more than that.”
Schreier is directing Thunderbolts from a script penned by Beef scribe Lee Sung Jin, who is working from the first draft by Black Widow screenwriter Eric Pearson. Thunderbolts star David Harbour previously said Pearson had a “really cool” idea for the story that would “drop a bomb” on the MCU when it comes to theaters in 2024.
Thunderbolts will see various Marvel characters team up for the first time on the big screen. Previously announced stars include Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell as John Walker (aka US Agent), Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross.
The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri and The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun have also joined the cast in undisclosed roles, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus is back as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (the Director of the CIA) after frequently showing up throughout Phase 4 of the MCU, following her debut in Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Solider.
For more on Thunderbolts, check out our breakdown of the ragtag team of antiheroes that could reshape the MCU as we know it and close out Phase 5 with a bang.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.