section_path: Production/Development
section_name: Development
paragraph_text: Development
  
  During the production of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), director James Gunn expressed interest in making a film based on the Marvel Comics team Thunderbolts, a group of "anti-heroes and super-criminals". Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said this was a possibility based on the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. By May 2021, Gunn was no longer interested in the idea after directing the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021), because that team from DC Comics is based on a similar concept to the Thunderbolts. In June 2018, Hannah John-Kamen expressed enthusiasm for reprising her role as Ava Starr / Ghost from the MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) in a potential Thunderbolts film, considering the comics version of Ghost is a member of the team.
  
  Speculation that a Thunderbolts team would be introduced to the MCU began in mid-2019 following the announcement that Daniel Brühl would appear as Helmut Zemo in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), reprising his role from the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016). That series introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and shows her recruiting Wyatt Russell 's John Walker / U.S. Agent. De Fontaine is also shown to be working with Florence Pugh 's Yelena Belova in the post-credits scene of the MCU film Black Widow (2021). Commentators speculated that she is recruiting a team of villains or antiheroes like the Thunderbolts, and some felt that team could appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Executive producer Nate Moore said the Thunderbolts were never considered for the project because they would "cloud the story" and take away from other aspects of the series. Head writer Malcolm Spellman said there was "a lot of chatter" around the team's potential introduction to the MCU and added, "I don't know if fans are crazy or not".
  
  Following his work on Black Widow, writer Eric Pearson brought the idea of a Thunderbolts film to Marvel Studios, realizing that Pugh had the potential to headline the film, given that Belova was "a natural leader". He was drawn to the story potential of Belova leading the Thunderbolts to go up against de Fontaine. By centering the story on Belova, Pearson decided to include her father Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian on the team, with Pearson also including Ghost because he had wanted to write the character. Bucky Barnes was also added to the team after a few drafts. The roster for the team eventually became Belova, Shostakov, Ghost, Barnes, Walker, and Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, with the character Bob Reynolds / Sentry added shortly after; this roster stayed consistent through subsequent drafts. To choose the team members, the creatives had looked through the roster of MCU characters to find "not just bad guys who could be good but characters that exist more on that morally grey plane or who were potentially destined for something else but then something went awry". Pearson likened Belova to Michael Corleone and Barnes to Tom Hagen, characters from Mario Puzo 's novel The Godfather (1969). In some of the initial drafts, Pearson had included Bill Foster / Goliath to continue his relationship with Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp, before joining the team by the end of the film. He was ultimately removed from the film, in part because Foster "didn't have the same background trauma that these other characters had, which was the unifying theme".
  
  By June 2022, Jake Schreier was attached to direct Thunderbolts, from a screenplay by Pearson, with Feige producing. Schreier was hired after a presentation that "blew away" Marvel Studios executives. At that time, the studio had been in contact with actors to discuss their availability to reprise their roles for the film. Schreier had considered including Man-Thing as a member of the team while pitching for the film, who Pearson called "an unpredictable creature" explaining that they could not find a way to have his inclusion make sense for the story in part because the character was drawing visual and narrative attention away from Bob. Another core concept that stayed consistent from the early drafts was the members being sent to kill each other, which Schreier believed provided a "neat twist" for audiences expecting Marvel Studios' version of the Suicide Squad; Pearson also believed it was important for Thunderbolts not to "rehash" the story beats of that team – an authority figure forcing criminals to work together – since audiences would have been familiar with that from both Suicide Squad (2016) and The Suicide Squad. Thus it did not make sense for the film to include Zemo or Thaddeus Ross, the leaders who had formed the team in the comics, despite Schreier wanting to try to incorporate Zemo. Pearson said the two characters' inclusion was discussed if it made sense narratively, as it would have honored the comics, but would not have featured them if it was for fan service. Zemo was included in an early post-credits scene idea where he would have been seen in prison "pulling the strings" similar to Keyser Söze, the antagonist in the film The Usual Suspects (1995), but this was quickly moved on from. The film was officially announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with a release date of July 26, 2024. It was set to be the last film in Phase Five of the MCU.
  
  During the production of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), director James Gunn expressed interest in making a film based on the Marvel Comics team Thunderbolts, a group of "anti-heroes and super-criminals". Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said this was a possibility based on the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. By May 2021, Gunn was no longer interested in the idea after directing the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021), because that team from DC Comics is based on a similar concept to the Thunderbolts. In June 2018, Hannah John-Kamen expressed enthusiasm for reprising her role as Ava Starr / Ghost from the MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) in a potential Thunderbolts film, considering the comics version of Ghost is a member of the team.
  
  Speculation that a Thunderbolts team would be introduced to the MCU began in mid-2019 following the announcement that Daniel Brühl would appear as Helmut Zemo in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), reprising his role from the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016). That series introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and shows her recruiting Wyatt Russell 's John Walker / U.S. Agent. De Fontaine is also shown to be working with Florence Pugh 's Yelena Belova in the post-credits scene of the MCU film Black Widow (2021). Commentators speculated that she is recruiting a team of villains or antiheroes like the Thunderbolts, and some felt that team could appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Executive producer Nate Moore said the Thunderbolts were never considered for the project because they would "cloud the story" and take away from other aspects of the series. Head writer Malcolm Spellman said there was "a lot of chatter" around the team's potential introduction to the MCU and added, "I don't know if fans are crazy or not".
  
  Following his work on Black Widow, writer Eric Pearson brought the idea of a Thunderbolts film to Marvel Studios, realizing that Pugh had the potential to headline the film, given that Belova was "a natural leader". He was drawn to the story potential of Belova leading the Thunderbolts to go up against de Fontaine. By centering the story on Belova, Pearson decided to include her father Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian on the team, with Pearson also including Ghost because he had wanted to write the character. Bucky Barnes was also added to the team after a few drafts. The roster for the team eventually became Belova, Shostakov, Ghost, Barnes, Walker, and Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, with the character Bob Reynolds / Sentry added shortly after; this roster stayed consistent through subsequent drafts. To choose the team members, the creatives had looked through the roster of MCU characters to find "not just bad guys who could be good but characters that exist more on that morally grey plane or who were potentially destined for something else but then something went awry". Pearson likened Belova to Michael Corleone and Barnes to Tom Hagen, characters from Mario Puzo 's novel The Godfather (1969). In some of the initial drafts, Pearson had included Bill Foster / Goliath to continue his relationship with Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp, before joining the team by the end of the film. He was ultimately removed from the film, in part because Foster "didn't have the same background trauma that these other characters had, which was the unifying theme".
  
  By June 2022, Jake Schreier was attached to direct Thunderbolts, from a screenplay by Pearson, with Feige producing. Schreier was hired after a presentation that "blew away" Marvel Studios executives. At that time, the studio had been in contact with actors to discuss their availability to reprise their roles for the film. Schreier had considered including Man-Thing as a member of the team while pitching for the film, who Pearson called "an unpredictable creature" explaining that they could not find a way to have his inclusion make sense for the story in part because the character was drawing visual and narrative attention away from Bob. Another core concept that stayed consistent from the early drafts was the members being sent to kill each other, which Schreier believed provided a "neat twist" for audiences expecting Marvel Studios' version of the Suicide Squad; Pearson also believed it was important for Thunderbolts not to "rehash" the story beats of that team – an authority figure forcing criminals to work together – since audiences would have been familiar with that from both Suicide Squad (2016) and The Suicide Squad. Thus it did not make sense for the film to include Zemo or Thaddeus Ross, the leaders who had formed the team in the comics, despite Schreier wanting to try to incorporate Zemo. Pearson said the two characters' inclusion was discussed if it made sense narratively, as it would have honored the comics, but would not have featured them if it was for fan service. Zemo was included in an early post-credits scene idea where he would have been seen in prison "pulling the strings" similar to Keyser Söze, the antagonist in the film The Usual Suspects (1995), but this was quickly moved on from. The film was officially announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with a release date of July 26, 2024. It was set to be the last film in Phase Five of the MCU.