Does the * in Thunderbolts*'s title = Black Widow 2?
According to trusted scooper Alex Perez, "Thunderbolts* is "just a Black Widow sequel the same way Civil War was a Captain America sequel... Yelena’s handling Red Room remnants and then gets sidetracked with Thunderbolts*."
Seeing as Thunderbolts* features characters like Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster, we've long suspected it would be heavily tied to Black Widow. Bucky and U.S. Agent's presence on the team also creates a significant link to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
The Hollywood Reporter may have even confirmed this in a new piece which reveals, "[Florence] Pugh, 28, earned an eight-figure payday for two Marvel films, first the Scarlett Johansson-led Black Widow then Thunderbolts, where she will be at the top of the call sheet."
While many fans are disappointed to see the classic Thunderbolts roster sidelined in the MCU, Yelena is incredibly popular and certainly not a bad choice of character to put the spotlight on here.
We also expect the * in the movie's title to lead to a big reveal...and one which potentially sets the stage for the Dark Avengers to assemble.
"[It's] wonderful," Pugh previously said of her MCU return in Thunderbolts*. "When we shot Black Widow, we thought we were going to shoot the next movie relatively sooner than we did, and it’s just been this thing that’s been looming, that we’ve been waiting to shoot at some point in the future, and now it’s finally happening, so it feels surreal, but it's coming back. Yelena's coming back."
Some new photos from the Thunderbolts* set have also been revealed and while no cast members have been spotted, these are bound to get fans talking...
Confirmed cast members for Thunderbolts* include Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, 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, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.
Recently, Geraldine Viswanathan replaced Ayo Edebiri in an undisclosed role, while Lewis Pullman has taken over as The Sentry following Steve Yeun's shock departure from the movie. Both he and Edebiri are said to have left due to scheduling issues.
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.