Marvel Studios held the world premiere of Thunderbolts* in London last night, and the stars of the latest MCU movie were in attendance - along with a few familiar faces who aren't in the movie (at least, as far as we know).
Pedro Pascal (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) walked the red carpet, along with Jodie Turner-Smith (The Acolyte, Bad Monkey) and Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones, The Killer).
This wouldn't be the first time someone attended the premiere of a movie they didn't appear in, of course, but we have seen actors show up to Marvel Studios screenings in the past who would later be confirmed as cast members in upcoming projects. The fact that Turner-Smith and Emmanuel were the only non-MCU actors on the Thunderbolts* red carpet has led to speculation that they may have joined (or are in talks to join) the franchise in undisclosed roles.
It might be a stretch, but it's worth mentioning that Turner-Smith and Emmanuel are both popular fan-picks to play Storm in the MCU X-Men reboot.
Do you think there's anything to this, or did these actresses simply attend the premiere to check out the movie? Drop us a comment down below.
We recently got confirmation that the next MCU movie has a fairly standard runtime of 2 hours, 6 minutes, and updated box office estimates predict that Thunderbolts* will take in between $63 million - $77 million domestically over the course of its opening weekend.
This wouldn't be a bad result for a movie with a (relatively) modest budget of $180M (minus additional costs), especially when you take into account that Thunderbolts* is a fairly obscure property without any major A-list stars (Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan are by far the biggest names).
The main cast of the movie (minus Olga Kurylenko) were confirmed to return for Avengers: Doomsday during Marvel's recent live-stream.
Marvel Studios recently announced the exciting news that Son Lux will be scoring Thunderbolts*. The three-member, American experimental band was Oscar and BAFTA- nominated for their score for 2022’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
Returning to their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles are Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The cast also includes newcomers to the MCU—Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer and Wendell Edward Pierce.
Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek and Jason Tamez serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* opens in U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.