During San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Marvel and Kevin Feige revealed the next few years of content for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a full slate of movies and series coming for the rest of Phase 4 and the upcoming Phase 5. Among these upcoming projects was the announcement of the anti-hero team the Thunderbolts would close out Phase 5 with their own movie in 2024. One of the members of the team will be Red Guardian, played by David Harbour who made his MCU debut in 2021's Black Widow. Collider's own Steven Weintraub recently had the chance to talk with Harbour about the upcoming film while discussing Violent Nights. The Stranger Things star shared that Thunderbolts is going to bring new things to the entertainment juggernaut that is the MCU.
Weintraub asked Harbour if he has read the script for Thunderbolts yet or if he has been told what the story will be for the upcoming project. While saying he hasn't read a finished script yet, he has been told what the arc of the film and its characters will be. Harbour described the story as "really good," also saying that "it's not what you'd expect. It incorporates a couple of new elements, new things that we have yet to see in the universe."
He also spoke about some of the cool things that they are bringing into the film while also praising his fellow cast members and their characters.
It's really cool. We introduce a thing that's super cool. It's vital. I'm psyched that Julia Louis Dreyfus' character is going to be, in a bigger way, explored. One of the things you'll probably know is that the me and Florence dynamic will be in there and explored in a way that's really cool. But all these guys, Sebastian's character, Wyatt's character, I just love this mercenary element in the MCU. MCU has always been sort of elevated in a certain way. Captain America, even Iron Man, although he has egos, are always in it for the right reasons or ultimately does the right thing. And I like these guys who are a bunch of losers or a bunch of guys who can't quite get it right. And so far what they've pitched me just feels really cool.
Who Is In Thunderbolts?
Joining Harbour on the cast of Thunderbolts includes the previously mentioned Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, and Dreyfus as Countessa Valentina. Other members of the titular team include Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. The upcoming film is set to begin filming next year and be directed by Jake Schreier with the screenplay being penned by Black Widow's writer Eric Pearson. Phase 4 came to an end with the recent release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicking off the Fifth Phase of the long-running superhero franchise early next year on February 17, 2023. Other films joining Thunderbolts in 2023 and 2024 include Disney+ shows such as Echo and Ironheart as well as highly-anticipated films such as The Marvels and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. You can find the full list of Phase 5 projects here.
Thunderbolts will close out Phase 5 of the MCU as it is set to premiere on July 26, 2024. Stay tuned for the full interview, but in the meantime check out our earlier interview with Harbour below: