New Thunderbolts* Teaser and Images From Empire
Want some evidence that Marvel desperately wants to turn the page from Captain America: Brave New World? Their newest movie is still in theaters, and they’re already releasing material for their next theatrical endeavor, Thunderbolts*. Today, Marvel dropped a new teaser for the film, which arrives in theaters on May 2, 2025, while Empire has some new tidbits about the movie from director Jake Schreier and stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, plus some exclusive images. (There’s likely more in the print version of the magazine, but this is what’s available online.) You can see the images below, again courtesy of Empire:
There’s nothing overly interesting in the images; frankly, they make Thunderbolts* look fairly bland, which seems to be the general consensus about the trailers as well. As far as the movie goes, Jack Schreier lists several films as inspirations – Reservoir Dogs, Ronin, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – but highlights Toy Story 3 as a big influence. The connective tissue with these movies and Thunderbolts* is that they’re about groups of mismatched outcasts who join forces, and conceptually, I can see that, particularly Ronin, with its disgraced warriors being assembled by shadowy forces to procure something they don’t understand (Sentry, in the case of Thunderbolts*). However, Schreier also says the reason the furnace scene in Toy Story 3 resonates is because you care about the characters; in that case, he’s got his work cut out for him because outside of Bucky, I don’t think anyone cares about the members of the Thunderbolts.
Speaking of Bucky, Sebastian Stan, amid saying some general fluff about his character in Thunderbolts* that doesn’t amount to much, refers to Bucky as a potential leader. That’s interesting because, based on the trailers and posters (and the way these things tend to go now), I figured they’d make Yelena the leader. Having Bucky step up is a neat idea, like he’s trying to follow in his best friend’s footsteps while someone else has taken his superhero persona. This could also put him and John Walker in a similar boat as the two guys who were passed over to hold Captain America’s shield. If Red Guardian weren’t turned into a complete joke, he could have been used to relate to them as the guy who had Cap’s status in his own country but fell out of favor over the years. Thunderbolts* has legitimate potential, but I don’t trust Marvel to make much of it, especially after seeing what they did to Daredevil: Born Again.
Like Brave New World, Thunderbolts* will answer a question that’s been lingering in the MCU for years: who bought Avengers Tower from Tony Stark? After eight years, we’ll discover that it was Valentina Allegra de Fontaine who purchased the superhero headquarters that was being vacated in Spider-Man: Homecoming – or, rather, that she purchased it on behalf of whoever her shadowy masters are. Since the first trailer, I thought Valentina would end up being the villain, and Schreier’s comments about her acquisition of Avengers Tower lend credence to this, calling Valentina “the person you would least like to own that tower” and her possession of it “a symbol of things taking a darker turn.” This makes me think that Thunderbolts* may be the first movie in these last couple of MCU phases to give some indication of where the overall story is going (and it doesn’t even need the stupid multiverse crap to do it). And the final bit of information comes from Florence Pugh, who compares Thunderbolts* to an A24 movie. On that note, check out the new teaser:
Does that look like an A24 movie to you? To me, it looks like every lousy Marvel movie from the last several years, with misplaced humor that doesn’t even land, lightweight characters, bland visuals, and a laundry list of creatives that’s supposed to be impressive. And what’s crazy is that Thunderbolts* may end up being the best of Marvel’s 2025 output, depending on how The Fantastic Four: First Steps goes. I do think there are some neat ideas at play in this movie, but as I keep saying, it all comes down to trust, and right now, I wouldn’t trust Marvel with a toothpick.
Let us know what you thought of the Thunderbolts* images and teaser below!
Thanks again to Empire for the pictures!
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Comments (2)
Thanks very much!
That poster sucked, even before the awful artwork on Sentry. It can’t decide if it wants to look serious or jokey, kind of like the movies themselves. They’re all stone-faced and fighting, then Yelena is in the middle, resting her head on her arm with a look like she’s saying, “Can you believe these dopes I have to wrangle?” And that doesn’t work when they all have a different tone and, especially, one of them is the Winter Soldier, who’s been more serious and deadly in his every appearance than she has. This is the kind of thing that makes me keep saying no one at Marvel cares anymore; they can’t even figure out how to sell their movies coherently. Most of the MCU posters weren’t particularly great, but at least they let you know what the movies would be like.
It looks cringe. Very bad. Your comments are on point, as always. It lacks real supers. The humor and acting is not timed well. It’s try-hard. Even the poster, I walked thru the theater and thought, oh no. It looks like a fail. Has fail all over it.