It's no secret that Jake Schreier strongly considered adding Werewolf by Night's Man-Thing to the Thunderbolts* cast. While we still don't know whether he would have eventually joined the New Avengers, this had the potential to be an interesting use of the character in the MCU.
Now, storyboard artist Anthony Lee Winn has shared a piece of artwork showing Man-Thing alongside the other Thunderbolts. His presence would have likely baffled the rest of the movie's anti-heroes, especially as Man-Thing obviously isn't overly chatty.
Ultimately, it was decided that the swamp monster wasn't a good fit for the story Schreier and Marvel Studios wanted to tell with Thunderbolts*. However, it seems his origins had ties to the villainous Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the Director of the CIA, and Sentry's creator.
According to Thunderbolts+ writer Eric Pearson,"Man-Thing [was] an agent or some evidence that Valentina wanted to destroy. He is such an unpredictable creature. It kinda didn’t fit and we couldn’t figure out a way that made sense. And you look at Man-Thing and you are like, 'What the hell is that?' We already had Bob, who was, 'What the hell is that?'"
"If you are dealing with Bob, why the hell is this normal-looking guy here versus this swamp monster? You are going to spend a lot of your time looking at the swamp monster as opposed to Bob, who needed a lot of attention because we needed to use that real estate between Bob waking up and Bob realizing he is the strongest thing that exists in the universe," the writer added.
With no Werewolf by Night sequel and still no sign of the long-rumoured Midnight Sons movie, Man-Thing is now in limbo. A cameo appearance in Ghost Rider might be a good next step, especially if the plan is to flesh out the MCU's supernatural side in the next Saga.
Check out this unused Thunderbolts* storyboard in the Instagram post below.
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+.