Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, has confirmed that Thunderbolts* "just wrapped last week."
While reshoots are undoubtedly on the horizon, this is welcome news considering it wasn't too long ago when members of the cast openly admitted they had no idea when production would begin. Of course, last year's strikes played a role in that, and Marvel Studios now has just shy of a year to get Thunderbolts* where they want it.
Similar to other recent interviews, Louis-Dreyfus refused to give any plot details away or reveal what the deal is with that asterisk.
The actress did say she, "Loved [the production]," adding: "I got to work with really cool people, who we already know are in the film. Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell. It was pretty dreamy."
Elsewhere in her conversation with Josh Horowitz, Louis-Dreyfus looked back at being enlisted for this MCU role. "I had a meeting with Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito, who run Marvel," she recalled. "They were big Seinfeld and Veep fans. I think they just wanted to talk about those shows."
"I went in and we were hanging around, talking about that episode and this episode. It just came up; they said, ‘Would you ever want to do something?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, it’d be so much fun, and my boys would freak out.’ That’s how it began."
"I like who she is, as a character, which is mysterious. Is she good, is she bad? It’s a little bit unclear," Louis-Dreyfus continued. "I like the idea of her maybe being a little bit of a puppet master. I liked that they were kind of just dropping her into different projects a little bit here, a little bit there."
We're hearing rumblings that the plan is for Val to take on a similar role to Amanda Waller in the Suicide Squad movies, suggesting Thunderbolts* really is Marvel Studios' take on Task Force X...
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 5, 2025.