Thunderbolts is definitely one of Marvel Studios' most intriguing upcoming movies...even if that roster isn't quite what many comic book fans were hoping for.
Now, rumours are swirling that the plan is for the team to square off with a "conflicted and powerful villain" akin to an "evil Superman." Hyperion is an obvious, and somewhat uninspired, suggestion but there are many characters from the comic books who actually fit that description.
We're not 100% sold on claims Ryan Gosling and Alexander Skarsgård are being eyed for this role, and think it's just as likely that a character we know of might be who the team - and hopefully Red Hulk - square off with. Of course, you'll also find some potential new additions to the MCU listed here, but the one thing they have in common is being on par with the Man of Steel!
To find out who made the cut, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below.
5. Wonder Man
Wonder Man is a complicated character who has fought The Avengers just as many times as he's battled alongside them. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will play Simon Williams in his own Disney+ series, of course, but what if that's a sequel to Thunderbolts?
Seeing as he was given his powers by Baron Zemo, it would make all the sense in the world for Wonder Man to be sent after Val's team of Super Soldiers. After all, Zemo hates those imbued with powers akin to Captain America's, and Marvel Studios could subvert expectations by having him create his own team to counter the CIA rather than heading down the Red Hulk route.
That villain could still come into play, of course, and may even be at the heart of what leads to these teams being formed. Regardless of the reason, Simon - free from Zemo's influence - making a name for himself in Hollywood as a reformed villain has all the makings of a great TV series after this movie is released.
4. Virtue
We're guessing many of you won't have heard of Virtue, and we can't pretend that Ethan Edwards would be our top choice of big bad for Thunderbolts.
Sent to Earth as a baby, the alien has an almost identical origin story to Superman and proves himself an incredibly powerful hero. Upon learning that he's a Skrull, however, Virtue loses the plot and shows his true colours; later, he was even enlisted by Wonder Man to join his group of "Revengers," a team dedicated to taking down Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
With Secret Invasion on the horizon, dealing with this incredibly powerful Super Skrull who is posing as a good guy could be exactly what leads Val to assemble her own team. We're sure there would be more to it than that, of course, but there's definitely room to do something interesting with this shape-shifting Superman knock-off.
3. The Sentry
You'll notice that Hyperion hasn't made the cut in this feature despite many believing he's the closest Marvel Comics has to its own Superman. A much better fit for a Multiversal story than Thunderbolts, we're likely to see him on screen at some point, but think The Sentry would be a way better pick for this movie's big bad.
Robert Reynolds was a mentally unstable meth addict who broke into a laboratory and stole an insanely powerful version of the Super Soldier Serum that made him one of the strongest heroes on Earth. It all gets a little complicated at that point, but the hero had a dark side called The Void capable of destroying the entire planet, making him a terrifying and significant threat.
If Val has created a new serum that's been stolen by someone like Robert who believes themselves a hero, then tracking down every Super Soldier she can to stop him...well, what else would she do? These machinations could drive home how corrupt the CIA is, with Red Hulk perhaps the only one capable of eventually stopping The Sentry!
2. Ikaris
Eternals was far from the let-down many critics declared it to be, but the fact that it's Marvel Studios' only "Rotten" movie (and one that didn't make the biggest of box office impacts) has left the franchise's future in doubt. While we hope to pick up with those characters again soon, there's one, in particular, we'd like to see make an appearance in Thunderbolts.
In the closing moments of the 2021 movie, Ikaris appeared to fly into the sun, ending his life after turning on his teammates (and after he allowed them to stop Tiamut's emergence). We didn't technically see him die, of course, so why not have him return to an Earth no longer defended by his fellow Eternals in a quest to make up for past "mistakes"?
We don't think it's overly likely because Marvel Studios is hoping to cast a new actor as this "evil Superman," but it sure would be a fun way to bring Richard Madden back to a role he knocked out of the park. Admittedly not a natural fit for the Thunderbolts' world, we can still easily picture a scenario where he was captured by Val or somehow runs afoul of her team.
1. Blue Marvel
Blue Marvel isn't a villain, but that doesn't mean Val couldn't fool her team of heroes into believing he is. In the comic books, Adam Bernard Brashear gained his powers in the 1950s and became the Blue Marvel, wearing a helmet to hide his identity. However, everything changed when the world discovered that he was, in fact, African-American.
The public refused to believe there could be a Black superhero, and the President convinced Adam to retire. The world was made to believe he had died, though the hero was secretly monitored by the U.S. Government after embarking on a normal life.
This could be tied into Isaiah Bradley's story (first touched on in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier), while also better linking Thunderbolts to Captain America: New World Order. Making Blue Marvel an enemy of the state has all the making of a really impactful story, while also laying the groundwork for this character to be a major player moving forward.