Marvel Studios has brought a new writer on board for the upcoming Thunderbolts movie.
Variety reports that Lee Sung Jin, creator and showrunner of Netflix’s Beef, has re-teamed with the Netflix drama's director Jake Schreier and star Steven Yeun on the project.
Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson penned the previous draft.
“I’m rewriting it,” Lee tells the trade. “It’s the whole squad again. Jake asked me if I would come on board. I probably should have taken a break, but there’s a lot of themes and exciting things about the movie that I couldn’t help but sign on.”
“It’s truly an honor to be part of a Marvel thing, but it is very different. One, it’s not my project, it’s Jake’s. It’s such a large scope and scale that the type of writing is very different. At the same time, the process feels the same, I’m still talking to Jake every day. … I think once you find the squad of people you love and trust and are so talented, you do everything you can to keep working with them.”
Yeun's character has yet to be confirmed, but he is rumoured to be playing the mega-powerful Sentry.
Though other characters might well be added, the Thunderbolts roster currently consists of Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) will put the team together, and may also be partially responsible for Sentry's creation. Harrison Ford will replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who may wind up transforming into the Red Hulk.
Bear breakout Ayo Edebiri is also on board in a secret role.
Thunderbolts is expected to begin shooting in June and is scheduled for release on July 26, 2024.