THUNDERBOLTS* TV Spot Appears To Confirm That Geraldine Viswanathan Is Playing [SPOILER] In The Movie

In a new Thunderbolts* TV spot, we see more of Geraldine Viswanathan's mysterious character and all signs point to her playing a fan-favourite member of the Thunderbolts from the comic books. Check it out!

News

By JoshWilding - Apr 13, 2025 04:04 AM EST

Filed Under: Thunderbolts

Shortly after last year's San Diego Comic-Con, a video posted to the Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel confirmed that Geraldine Viswanathan is playing a character called "Mel" in Thunderbolts*.

The Drive-Away Dolls star has previously said that she's Valentina Allegra de Fontaine's "little right-hand man." Fans soon put the pieces together and concluded that Viswanathan must have been cast as the MCU's Melissa Gold, a.k.a. Songbird.

A new TV spot for Thunderbolts* has been released by Marvel Studios today. It features a shot of Viswanathan that once again points to her playing Songbird (or, at the very least, an early version of the hero) thanks to what looks like a "songbird" necklace.

Whether she'll have the same supersonic sound abilities as her comic book counterpart remains to be seen.

Unfortunately, this is likely another example of Marvel Studios plucking a relatively obscure character from the source material - who admittedly has significant ties to the Thunderbolts - before reimagining them. Without powers, by the looks of things.

Songbird, originally known as Screaming Mimi, debuted in the pages of Marvel Two-in-One #54 in 1979. She was created by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and John Byrne, later becoming the superhero known as Songbird after joining the Thunderbolts.

The original members of that team don't appear to be a priority for Marvel Studios; instead, the focus has shifted to characters from existing MCU franchises like Black Widow, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and Ant-Man and The Wasp.

You can watch this new TV spot for Thunderbolts* in the player below.

Their time has come ️⚡️

Don’t miss Marvel Studios’ #Thunderbolts* in theaters May 2. Get tickets now: https://t.co/bFq0RNfp6K pic.twitter.com/3V3g09bJ4n
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) April 12, 2025

Geraldine Viswanathan's character in ‘THUNDERBOLTS*’ is seemingly wearing a Songbird necklace. pic.twitter.com/t2PGBPby8v
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) April 12, 2025

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.

THUNDERBOLTS* First Clip Reveals That There's A Void Inside Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova

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THUNDERBOLTS* Star Olga Kurylenko Says "[Marvel Studios] Changed A Couple Of Things" With The Movie

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48 Comments

1 2

MikeyL - 4/13/2025, 4:58 AM

A Thunderbolts team without Songbird or Moonstone never works for me

Apophis71 - 4/13/2025, 6:29 AM

@MikeyL - If you love those characters I get that but then this isn't a villain pretending to be heroes version of a Thunderbolts team thus waiting for them to turn up as part of a Zemo led masters of evil seems better than them appearing for the first time in a hero iteration of the team (which there have been ample of in the comics too and all included have been in one or more of those in print).

Urubrodi - 4/13/2025, 5:05 AM

Maybe she is just a fan of the Hunger Games... Surely Marvel has learned the lesson of stopping to get people that look nothing like their character right? lol

ObserverIO - 4/13/2025, 5:13 AM

*sigh* as an original Thunderbolts fan this is just sad.

Gambito - 4/13/2025, 5:37 AM

@ObserverIO - why??? We’re getting a movie at the very least that at least has Ghost and Walker we support it for certain they bring in Zemo and Atlas for the sequel

ObserverIO - 4/13/2025, 6:25 AM

@Gambito - It's not even Thunderbolts so what's the point in even bringing in the original roster? Too little too late and if there is a sequel to this it should be a Disney+ show that has nothing to do with the actual cinematic Sacred Timeline.

SodaBurps - 4/13/2025, 12:03 PM

@ObserverIO - I'm with with you! I love the original Thunderbolts so much. What a great premise. The big reveal was one of my favorite moments in comics. It's not even worth getting excited for anything Marvel announces because they're just gonna water everything down. We don't get Mach-1, Jolt, Fixer, or Citizen V. Best they can give us is that abomination they call Taskmaster. It's insulting.

dagenspear - 4/13/2025, 6:18 AM

I wonder: Do they just pick random comic book character names out of a hat for things like this. Or is there some specific reason they chose this character to be in this movie. Or is just random nonsense like Red Hulk and Leader in Cap 4.

ObserverIO - 4/13/2025, 6:26 AM

@dagenspear - The first one would be my guess.

ObserverIO - 4/13/2025, 6:27 AM

Well not so random. They're putting in a character that was in the original Thunderbolts to make it seem like they actually care about that comic at all.

KennKathleen - 4/13/2025, 7:31 AM

@dagenspear -

dragon316 - 4/13/2025, 9:53 AM

@dagenspear - they do for comics look at how easy people be avengers now venom was avenger at one time same with Hercules and Conan ., in comics thunderbolts team change as same if it wasn’t for mutant powers out casting people be part of X-men who knows what non mutants be part of team and xfactor xforce

Blergh - 4/13/2025, 12:12 PM

@dagenspear - Songbird was part of the original iteration of the team. Zemo tried to fool the world into idolizing a new team of heroes when the Avengers were gone; so the took on the identity of Citizen V and gave Goliath the name "Atlas".
It was really mostly just a team of villains pretending to be heroes to get access to tools while society being blissfully unaware.

Zemo got kicked out once the team accepted that they were heroes.

dagenspear - 4/13/2025, 4:26 PM

@Blergh - But, is who the character is in the comics be that much connected to this version.

harryba11zack - 4/13/2025, 7:15 AM

looks nothing like him >:(

Vigor - 4/13/2025, 7:45 AM

Here i am, excited at the possibilities
*reads comments*

Ugh 😠

TheVisionary25 - 4/13/2025, 9:23 AM

@Vigor - just for curiosity’s sake , what are they saying since yours is the only comment I can see right now?.

I’m sure it’s either something racist or them saying “who cares” about this character.

Urubrodi - 4/13/2025, 10:36 AM

@Vigor - Well here we have a character important to the actual Thunderbolts in the comics, portrayed by an actress that looks nothing like her, apparently without any powers and just a random assistant, by the looks of it not having an important role in the movie, and it would probably be a safe bet that the only reference to the comics character will be that necklace. Maybe I'm wrong, but there is nothing in this article that makes me excited.

Glad to see TheVisionary25 hasn't changed, still calling other people racist when they disagree with him.

Vigor - 4/13/2025, 11:00 AM

@Urubrodi -

"apparently without any powers and just a random assistant, by the looks of it not having an important role in the movie"

Those are ALL ASSUMPTIONS considering nobody has seen the movie
And I don't care if she looks different. I prefer the diversity honestly. Does it matter in any way that she's not a white girl like everyone else in the comics ?

Urubrodi - 4/13/2025, 11:27 AM

@Vigor - Considering the trailers have given no indication that she is anything more than that and she’s not that big of a character to be hidden away as some big surprise, it is a safe assumption. But then again the point of your original comment was about why others were not as excited, I need more than a necklace to be excited, to me that is nothing more than a little nod. Hope she becomes more than just an assistant down the line.

As for the race thing, you and I already had these type of discussions in the past, and yes I think a character’s race no matter which race, white, black, Asian, Latino… is an important part of that character. It’s not because she is a minor character that I’ll change my stance on it. But I respect your opinion.

Vigor - 4/13/2025, 12:33 PM

@Urubrodi - look I'm saying ugh because I really dislike pessimism. Which has run rampant here. It was more fun when people were appreciative we were getting marvel movies of mcu quality.

Im a glass half full guy. Seeing that songbird exists tickles my nerd. Of course I don't want her to end up like Gaia (lame, overpowered) or taskmaster (a huge letdown and character assassination).

But marvel has done more right than good in this arena (vs fox, Sony, WB). So I'm super hopeful
And you and I will never agree on whether it matters how much melanin a character has. So let's just scratch that from the conversation

Vigor - 4/13/2025, 12:35 PM

@TheVisionary25 - damn you blocked that many people? Lol

People are not looking at this as a win that the character exists. More of a letdown because.. well.. nobody's given a good r eason. I guess they assume she's a throwaway. Urobrodi doesn't like that she's brown
Take of that as you will

TheVisionary25 - 4/13/2025, 12:41 PM

@Vigor - people are pessimistic beyond reason now…

That’s just how it is with them

Bunch if miserable assholes who just complain because of the sad void that is their life

RipleysCurls - 4/13/2025, 12:45 PM

@TheVisionary25 - how is his the only comment you see? That would imply you have blocked 11 separate individuals. At that point I don't even understand what the point of visiting this comments section even is.

Urubrodi - 4/13/2025, 12:51 PM

@Vigor - lol you can't say let's drop race discussion out of the conversation, which I'd be ok with, and then tell another user that I don't like her cause she's brown XD That's a dick move, when I listed a bunch of reasons and was very clear that my problem is not with a particular race but in not being faithful to the source material, and the character's appearance is part of the combo.

Given that TheVisionary25 has blocked me anyways feel free to get some validation from him since I guess you are one of the few users he hasn't blocked yet.

Anyways I'm off this thread, I made my point.

TheVisionary25 - 4/13/2025, 1:12 PM

@RipleysCurls - because I still get to interact with the people I want to interact with which might be few but I still think are more reasonable and like minded then most on here

RipleysCurls - 4/13/2025, 2:20 PM

@TheVisionary25 - I got ya. Hey, to each there own. I feel like you'd just be in an echo chamber and that would get quite boring but if that's what you prefer I understand.

Vigor - 4/13/2025, 2:37 PM

@RipleysCurls - there's 4 types of users here

Those excited about comic book films
Those that see a blue sky and find something negative to say about it
Those that don't post at all
Deliberate trolls and shitposters for lulz

@thevisionary25 just blocked group#2. He's better off for it. No constructive discussion or joy can be had out of being around the joyless

TheVisionary25 - 4/13/2025, 3:25 PM

@RipleysCurls - I get ya but to me , I would rather be around people that are excited about this stuff and want to atleast discuss them rather then be negative about it from the onset and poo poo them…

There’s no fun in that

CreateNowSlpL8r - 4/13/2025, 11:24 PM

@Vigor - Someone who just blocks people when they lose arguments isn't some badge of honor. Secondly. I get what you're saying about pessimism. Im not just messing with you. You have to admit though, while you might prefer diversity, fans of the character are equally in their right to want the character to be comic accurate. TB already features two gender swapped characters. Ghost and Taskmaster are male in the comics. Its not like this has actually helped MCU movies. They keep tanking.

In the FF thread, I posted the article where basically they are changing all the characters. In Quinns word's for modern audiences. Why? The success of the MCU was the comic accurate depictions. Again, not trolling you but critics have a legitimate beef and the strategy isn't working.

@Urubrodi

Vigor - 4/14/2025, 6:39 AM

@CreateNowSlpL8r - "Someone who just blocks people when they lose arguments isn't some badge of honor"

I don't think he's losing arguments. A wise man arguing with a fool from afar looks like two fools. Why engage with someone who is by all intents and purposes, ignorant?
Plus some people just want to be amongst a fun Fandom. Not one obsessed with identity politics

Regarding the race of a character, well.. we will just have to agree to disagree

CreateNowSlpL8r - 4/14/2025, 11:03 AM

@Vigor - It's fair to have a point of view. My issue is these films keep tanking. Disney is changing leadership at the end of the year. How long do you think they will keep letting them make these expensive movies that bomb?

Shmokey20 - 4/13/2025, 8:18 AM

Ralph Macchio helped creat Song Bird?!?

dragon316 - 4/13/2025, 9:50 AM

@Shmokey20 - same name different guy I have some comics work done by him thought same thing no way it be possible

fanboy03191 - 4/13/2025, 10:32 AM

@dragon316 - yeah lol. Different dude.

JustAWaffle - 4/13/2025, 9:02 AM

I’ll catch it when it hits streaming.

dragon316 - 4/13/2025, 9:49 AM

Probably best non comic book fans get confused with black canary

TheVisionary25 - 4/13/2025, 9:49 AM

That’s a pretty cool catch if she does indeed turn out to be the MCU’s version of Songbird!!.

I had a theory that she could be Melissa Gold and was in disguise as Val’s seemingly normal assistant but was actually her superpowered bodyguard that would be revealed when Sentry/The Void perhaps tries to kill her but that doesn’t seem to be the case…

She could be powerless in this and then get her implants/abilities in the future or perhaps , we see her get them in this at the end or a post credits scene so we’ll see.

Anyway , Geraldine’s a good actress so it’s nice to have her in the MCU!!.

BruceWayng - 4/13/2025, 10:30 AM

Cool…maybe one day we’ll get to seek the Songbird necklace fight the Mockingbird watch…

THUNDERBOLTS* TV Spot Appears To Confirm That Geraldine Viswanathan Is Playing [SPOILER] In The Movie

In a new Thunderbolts* TV spot, we see more of Geraldine Viswanathan's mysterious character and all signs point to her playing a fan-favourite member of the Thunderbolts from the comic books. Check it out!

THUNDERBOLTS* First Clip Reveals That There's A "Void" Inside Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova

THUNDERBOLTS* Star Olga Kurylenko Says "[Marvel Studios] Changed A Couple Of Things" With The Movie

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.