Thunderbolts* opened in theaters back in May to overwhelmingly positive reviews, but a disappointing $382.4 million at the worldwide box office.
Why didn't the movie resonate with audiences? There are likely many factors, ranging from general "superhero fatigue" to the fact that Thunderbolts*'s cast primarily hailed from Disney+ TV shows. An argument could also be made that it should have been promoted as *The New Avengers much sooner.
Regardless, filmmaker Jake Schreier impressed Disney and Marvel Studios enough to be hired for the upcoming X-Men reboot. As for the MCU's New Avengers, they'll return in next December's Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel Studios photographer Chuck Zlotnick has taken to Instagram to share several never-before-seen photos from Thunderbolts*. Highlights include The Sentry battling the Thunderbolts and some great shots of Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan's return as Bucky Barnes.
It sounds like Zlotnick intends to publish more of these on his official website, which is already full of incredible stills and portraits from his work in the MCU.
When we spoke with Schreier earlier this year (you can watch the full interview at the bottom of this page), he told us this about being tasked with introducing the New Avengers:
"It was an exciting opportunity, and that was there from the beginning, even though many, many other things shifted about the story. It meant that we always knew that we had to walk this interesting line of trying to make a movie that was different, which is something Kevin [Feige] also told us to do, but it had to end in this place that felt like it could live up to that mantle, even if at first the audience and maybe the public were a little like, 'Huh?'"
"And then, when you think about it, 'Oh, I guess they could be that in their way,' or you would like to at least see them try going forward. And so it felt like our movie had to take that same tack. 'This is gonna be different. This is not gonna be your traditional MCU movie,' but by the end, it also needs to have enough things in it that live up to that legacy, so that when you get to the end, it doesn't feel like it comes entirely from out of nowhere."
When you go back in and you see all of the breadcrumbs that we left around, like old Avengers history and those moments from the MCU that we're kind of quoting or hinting at, that you would feel like it had actually built up to that moment."
You can check out Zlotnick's Thunderbolts* photos on Instagram.
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?
"Thunderbolts* redefines superhero storytelling to deliver a moving and powerful story that does for the 'Multiverse Saga' what The Avengers did for the 'Infinity Saga' in 2012," we said in our review. "These heroes have earned their place on a Wheaties box."
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 now available on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and Disney+.