Marvel Studios may have revealed the Thunderbolts roster during D23 this past weekend, but we still know very little about the movie.
Yelena Belova looks set to lead a team that includes Bucky, Red Guardian, U.S. Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster, but with Val pulling the strings, who is this group actually being assembled to square off with? That's a big question among fans, but one popular candidate is Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer.
The Iron Man 2 villain may not be a particularly formidable threat physically, but his intellect means he could quite easily be up to something nefarious. Despite admittedly being a more likely candidate for Armor Wars' big bad, actor Sam Rockwell is definitely up for joining the Thunderbolts cast.
The Playlist asked about the project, though Rockwell initially thought they were talking about a character rather than a team. "Yeah, definitely. The Thunderbolt...who is that now? That’s not War Machine...that’s somebody else?" When they filled him in, the actor added, "Oh, wow. Yeah, I would be into that. [Thunderbolts] sounds cool. Yeah, that’s fun."
When the site went on to point out that Hammer is a character they would love to see back in the MCU, Rockwell said, "Yeah, me too. [Hammer’s] fun, he’s a real Lex Luthor."
As much fun as it would be to see Hammer lend his technical expertise to the Thunderbolts, having him take aim at Rhodey in Armor Wars feels like a natural next step for the character. Whether it will happen remains to be seen, though Marvel Studios made it clear at D23 that the show is one they're still forging ahead with.
Hopefully, we'll have more to share about these projects soon. Both are something different for the MCU, and that's no bad thing, especially with so many big and small screen Marvel Studios stories now on the way.
Thunderbolts is set to be released in theaters on July 26, 2024.