Thunderbolts* originally cast Invincible and The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun as The Sentry, marking a reunion for him and Beef director/executive producer Jake Schreier.
Scheduling issues caused by 2023's Hollywood strikes led to Yeun dropping out of the MCU movie, with Lessons in Chemistry actor Lewis Pulman later taking over the role of "Bob." That wasn't the only change, as Geraldine Viswanathan also replaced Ayo Edebiri.
Talking to Fortress of Solitude, Schreier revealed whether the change led to any alterations in the script and how The Sentry is portrayed in Thunderbolts*.
"From a writing perspective, not a lot [changed]," he confirmed. "I think what you always want with any actor is to explore what points of connection they find with that character, and so it was a new process with Lewis, who is so open and so committed to figuring out all the levels of that character. And it is such a complex set of dimensionality that you need to explore to make that work."
"He and I would just get together every weekend and go through line by line within the scenes—even when he is just Bob—which lines tie into which sides of the character a little bit more and really carve out, even if it’s subtle and not everyone reads it the first time they watch, which aspects of the character those lines are connecting to," the filmmaker added.
While it's a shame that Yeun couldn't work out his schedule to accommodate Thunderbolts*, many fans have argued that Pullman is a better fit for the character. He's also been on the cusp of a breakout role for a while now, and it feels a lot like The Sentry (and The Void) will be what puts him on the map.
In a separate conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, David Harbour and Florence Pugh addressed Black Widow star Rachel Weisz's absence from Thunderbolts* as Melina Vostokoff. Here's an excerpt from that interview:
Pugh: We don’t know what happened to Melina.
Harbour: No, [we don’t]. I’ve talked to [Marvel] people about Melina, and I think there’s still very much potential for Melina.
Pugh: Hope!
Harbour: It’s funny, when we shot Black Widow, there was no time for this scene in the movie itself, because the movie is clearly about Scarlett’s character. But there were some DVD extras that came out …
Harbour: Yeah, there was a beautiful scene with me and Rachel after the crash. I touch her face and everything. It was one of my favorite moments from that movie.
Pugh: It was cut?
Harbour: Yeah, it was cut. You can’t focus on those two when Natasha is fighting Taskmaster at the end of the film. “Let’s go to the two supporting characters and see how they worked out!”
Harbour: But I do think that there’s potential for Melina’s reemergence in some kind of interesting way, and I would love to have her back in Alexei’s life. She would add such an interesting complexity.
While we won't see Melina in Thunderbolts*, Olga Kurylenko is set to reprise her role as Taskmaster. However, the expectation is that she'll have only a very small role in the movie and that this story won't necessarily expand too much on what we saw in 2021.
Avengers: Doomsday is next for the Thunderbolts, though we'd bet on Yelena Belova's family eventually being revisited in a future project.
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 currently set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.