When Marvel Studios announced the Thunderbolts cast at D23, the news received something of a mixed response. For starters, the cast is essentially made up of characters from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Black Widow, with the only exception being Ant-Man and The Wasp's Ghost.
The biggest omission, however, was Daniel Bruhl's Baron Zemo. A key part of the team in the comic books, there's been no mention of the villain, and we don't currently know whether he'll be part of this story.
It would be a huge blunder to leave him behind bars, and we can't help but worry that giving him the mask was a way to make fans happy before Zemo is sidelined all over again. Regardless, Bruhl has now commented on his absence from Thunderbolts and appears optimistic about his MCU future.
"Even if I could...I couldn't, you know," he told Radio Times when asked about his absence from the movie's cast list. "The only thing I can say, everybody knows - is I'm not dead!"
It sounds like Bruhl knows something, but that pesky Marvel Studios secrecy means we'll have to wait and see what comes next. There are other MCU franchises Zemo could appear in, and if a new world is created in Avengers: Secret Wars, we'd love to see what his corner of Doctor Doom's (or more likely Kang the Conqueror's) kingdom looks like.
We've been hearing reports that Harrison Ford will play General "Thunderbolt" Ross in Thunderbolts as well as Captain America: New World Order, so him being the main antagonist seems like a safe bet. If that's the case, we can probably expect this team to come together in an effort to stop the Red Hulk, though we're sure Zemo could be pulling the strings too.
Thunderbolts is set to be released in theatres on July 26, 2024.
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