Marvel Studios has announced that Thunderbolts* (a.k.a. *The New Avengers) blasts onto screens of all sizes when it lands on Disney+ on August 27. The latest Marvel Studios adventure arrives with strong home-viewing momentum and builds on its well-received theatrical debut, boasting an 88% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Unfortunately, the movie struggled in theaters (grossing just over $382 million worldwide), but its streaming debut means those of you who didn't catch it on the big screen can now find out what you missed.
The Thunderbolts are the MCU's New Avengers, the ultimate surprise to audiences as this misfit team of burned assets rallies their powers and unites against all odds. Their namesake movie, Thunderbolts*, is an action-packed adventure, with audiences embracing the film's super-powered humour and adrenaline.
"Thunderbolts* redefines superhero storytelling to deliver a moving and powerful story that does for the 'Multiverse Saga' what The Avengers did for the 'Infinity Saga' in 2012," we said in our review. "These heroes have earned their place on a Wheaties box."
Last month, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier told us this about introducing the New Avengers:
"It was an exciting opportunity, and that was there from the beginning, even though many, many other things shifted about the story. It meant that we always knew that we had to walk this interesting line of trying to make a movie that was different, which is something Kevin [Feige] also told us to do, but it had to end in this place that felt like it could live up to that mantle, even if at first the audience and maybe the public were a little like, 'Huh?'"
"And then, when you think about it, 'Oh, I guess they could be that in their way,' or you would like to at least see them try going forward. And so it felt like our movie had to take that same tack. 'This is gonna be different. This is not gonna be your traditional MCU movie,' but by the end, it also needs to have enough things in it that live up to that legacy, so that when you get to the end, it doesn't feel like it comes entirely from out of nowhere."
Check out a new trailer and poster for Thunderbolts* (*The New Avengers) below.
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?
The cast of Thunderbolts* will be led by Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman as "Bob."
Written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo, and directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is now available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD, and arrives on Disney+ on August 27.