Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS* Originally Included A Link To Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror

Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS* Originally Included A Link To Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror

The post-credit scene for Thunderbolts* was originally going to tie into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty before Jonathan Majors' legal troubles.

By MarkJulian - May 05, 2025 12:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Thunderbolts
Source: IGN

It's been a long road for Marvel's Thunderbolts* to cinemas as the Hollywood Writers' Strike severely impacted the film's production schedule.

As such, the extra time afforded extra time to polish the script, which saw three scribes apply their trade to the finished product: Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow), Lee Sung Jin (Beef), and Joanna Calo (The Bear, Bojack Horseman).

Along the way, various ideas and plot threads ended up being left on the cutting room floor, including Man-Thing, Baron Zemo, a larger role for Taskmaster, and US Agent turning into a Hulk-like monster.

It's also been revealed that with the screenplay first being worked on by Pearson in 2021, the Thunderbolts* were originally intended to have a tie-in to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

However, Jonathan Majors' legal trouble led to him being fired by Marvel in December 2023, and Marvel Studios ultimately pivoted to Doctor Doom and Robert Downey Jr.

Pearson confirmed this to IGN, stating, "So I was throwing together at the beginning a post-credit sequence that had to deal with Kang."

Another post-credit idea dealt with a dangling plot thread from the Hawkeye Disney+ series.

"[Another idea] had to deal with more of a direct relation to the fact that [Julia Louis-Dreyfus’] Valentina [Allegra de Fontaine] sent Yelena after Clint Barton, after Hawkeye, [for] the Hawkeye show,” said  Pearson. “But as time passes, you're like, well, is anyone going to make that connection still to the thing that they haven't seen in two or three years?"

Baron Zemo was also an idea for a post-credit stinger, as Pearson recalled, "There was definitely a [post-credits] tag that I did a million years ago where Zemo is like Keyser Söze. Like he's been pulling the strings from prison in some way. But I don't think that iteration lived longer than like, ‘Hey, what about this?’ ‘Nope, not that."

Thunderbolts* is an upcoming Phase 5 MCU film that now playing in North American theaters.  The film is currently slated to close out Phase 5 of the MCU.

Jake Schreier directs from a script written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo.

The film stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Lewis Pullman has also been cast as The Sentry/Void.

Principal photography began on February 26, 2024, wrapped in June.

The film is inspired by the Marvel Comics title of the same name, where the Masters of Evil disguised themselves as The Avengers after the apparent death of the team after the Onslaught saga. Led by Baron Zemo, the group surmised that by filling the vacuum of superpowered champions, they could gain access to all the secrets of The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Later incarnations of the team would typically consist of U.S.-controlled supervillains who attempt to earn redemption and/or pardons by executing covert missions.

About Thunderbolts*
 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?

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DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 5/5/2025, 12:16 PM
I'm so glad they moved on from Kang. Nothing about him being the new big bad excited me.
dragon316
dragon316 - 5/5/2025, 1:35 PM
@DarthOmega - I was never fan of character people say he’s stronger and popular than thanos but who fights avengers all time in books thanos not kang .,

Kang is iron man suit type travels through time in movie he got beat by ants who knows how quick fight end if he fought avengers
McMurdo
McMurdo - 5/5/2025, 1:38 PM
@DarthOmega - just wasn't handled well unfortunately.
mountainman
mountainman - 5/5/2025, 1:45 PM
@DarthOmega - Kang has the potential to be cool, but the MCU never came close to realizing that potential.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/5/2025, 12:19 PM
Not getting a proper conclusion for Kang or the Council (regardless of whether they are dealt with in Doomsday or not) will probably be my biggest issue with the MCU thus far…

I know it was somewhat out of their hands with the Majors situation and if they apparently did ask Colman Domingo to portray the role aswell as others but they didn’t want to do it due to not wanting to be compared to Majors or not wanting to portray a character someone else had played then so be it , they were caught between a rock and a hard place then so they chose the easy route which I don’t agree with but I get it.

In regards to Zemo , him apparently manipulating events somehow could have been interesting but given this versions hatred for super soldiers or powered beings , I don’t see him working with most of the team ever tbh.
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 5/5/2025, 12:27 PM
So basically what I'm hearing is that no one liked the movie and we should all be watch Ne Zha 2?
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 5/5/2025, 12:38 PM
@HammerLegFoot - @Vectorsigma right now

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Omario
Omario - 5/5/2025, 12:29 PM
Would've loved to have seen Zemo. I think Hawkeye reference would have been a tad more helpful for the reason mentioned.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 5/5/2025, 12:46 PM
I would like to see them use Kang in the same way the comics did Thanos with Doom. Just include him to get obliterated early on by Doom just to show off some of his power set.

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slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 5/5/2025, 12:47 PM
I think it’d be a great post credit for Fantastic Four.
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 5/5/2025, 12:54 PM
@slickrickdesigns - ?si=Ra5EqeE5-srjdqNz

So awesome
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 5/5/2025, 1:06 PM
@slickrickdesigns - It could have been cool but the problem is they already made Kang look like a chump who got taken down by Ant-Man and Wasp. It wouldn't really be impressive for Doom to take him out after that.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 5/5/2025, 2:34 PM
@CorndogBurglar - I thought Kang was the best part of Quantumania. While it wasn’t my ideal ending I still like the idea of Doom disintegrating Kang or maybe even just wiping out the council of Kangs to tie up the loose ends on Kangs storyline and starts the Dr Doom legacy for the MCU.
We can always come back around later down the road to Kang as there are an infinite amount of variants.
JonsonMikel
JonsonMikel - 5/5/2025, 1:46 PM
Yes! I think it’d be a great post credit for Fantastic Four.

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