It's a pretty regular occurrence for scenes from a trailer not to be in the final cut of a movie. However, when big moments are missing—like the funeral scene from Captain America: Brave New World's sneak peeks—you know some huge changes have been made.
Is that the case with Thunderbolts*? The movie isn't out in theaters yet, so fans haven't had a chance to compare the finished product with the many sneak peeks we've had over the past several months.
Talking to Digital Spy, Red Guardian actor David Harbour confirmed that many scenes included in the trailers aren't in Thunderbolts*. Fortunately, it sounds like most of those are just humorous beats or instances of improvisation with the cast on set.
"It's been fun to watch the marketing too because there is so much stuff on the cutting room floor that maybe the marketing team just picked up – little moments that aren't in the movie that they are just taking," the actor explained.
"There was so much footage of us just messing around that makes for a really fun trailer beat, but doesn't quite make it for the movie," Harbour continued. "There was a ton of good stuff."
U.S. Agent actor Wyatt Russell chimed in to say, "It really was so fun and it was in situations where we kind of had no business having any fun. It wasn't like you're in some Hawaiian shirt drinking Mai Tais on a beach."
Harbour then replied with a laugh, "No, we were in super suits in hot weather in Mojave in a car with no air conditioning, but still laughing."
It doesn't sound like we've missed too much, though it will certainly be interesting to see what didn't make the cut. Marvel Studios has pulled out all the stops with the marketing campaigns for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*, though in the former's case, the trailers promised a much better movie than the one we ended up with.
Hopefully, Thunderbolts* won't disappoint. The Sentry's creator, Paul Jenkins, certainly sounds mighty impressed with what he saw...
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.