There was some disappointment when the characters that would make up the team in Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* were announced (many felt that the super soldier-heavy roster simply didn't feature enough variety), but director Jake Schreier recently revealed that he did originally want to shake things up by adding Man-Thing to the mix.
In a new interview with The Wrap, the filmmaker explains that "Ted" was off-limits due to his appearance in the Werewolf By Night Special Presentation, but a later draft of the Thunderbolts* script introduced Sentry, which more than made up for the lack of a swamp monster.
“I never thought about Man-Thing again,” Schreier admits. “There was so many avenues to go down. That felt like the team was locked at that point.”
Though Thunderbolts* is never particularly graphic, the story does go to dome dark places in its exploration of the crippling effects of depression. Even so, Schreier says that while there was some back and forth about "how intense" certain scenes should be, he never felt compelled to push for an R rating.
“The thing that we were very protective of is, if we were going to make a story that touched on some of these ideas, but obviously is in a summer blockbuster, the last thing that we would ever want is to make it feel reductive or preachy, or make it seem simple. That’s really where our focus went.”
As for the asterisk that was added to the title (no spoilers), Schreier reveals that it was his idea - and he was surprised Marvel got on board with it.
He suggested, “'Hey, we should do one Instagram post where we put an asterisk on the title and then say until we come up with something better.'” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito loved the idea, and “ran with it much more than I was expecting.”
Schreier then asked if they could debut the new title in the movie’s main-on-end title sequence.
“It might be the only place you could do something like that, where there’s enough attention on the movies that you’re not worried about taking whatever the marketing spend is and then switch the title. In this world it seems like a risk you could take.”
Have you seen the movie yet? If so, what did you think? Let us know what you thought in the comments. You can check out our review here.
Marvel Studios recently announced the exciting news that Son Lux will be scoring Thunderbolts*. The three-member, American experimental band was Oscar and BAFTA- nominated for their score for 2022’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
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?
Returning to their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles are Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The cast also includes newcomers to the MCU—Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer and Wendell Edward Pierce.
Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek and Jason Tamez serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* opens in U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.