Bucky Declared Leader Of 'Thunderbolts' By Kevin Feige

With only a new trailer for the forthcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel kept a relatively low profile at this year’s Super Bowl. However, Kevin Feige is making up for it.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, the head of Marvel Studios had quite a lot to say about ALL of the company’s upcoming projects. After discussing the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, he revealed some major news about the forthcoming Thunderbolts film.

Referencing his previous comments about the film at D23, Feige expressed his excitement about how the characters in the film are “barely heroes.”

Shortly after, he made the hierarchy of the team entirely clear by stating, “When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that’s sort of all you need to know. That’s the trickle down.”

So there you have it! Feige has confirmed that Bucky will be in charge of his own team for the first time since joining the MCU. He teased that Bucky’s leadership status would not diminish any of the supporting cast’s purpose. “You’ve got David Harbour and Florence Pugh,” he said, “[All of] these people who are at the top of their game, popping in everything they’re doing. They’re already here and established in the MCU, and we get to build the movie around them.”

READ: RUMOR – Marvel Eyeing Ryan Gosling Or Alexander Skarsgård For Villain Role In ‘Thunderbolts’

After quietly brewing at Marvel Studios for quite some time,Thunderbolts finally begins filming later this year.

Director Jake Schreier reportedly blew away execs and ultimately landing him the job. Not much is known about the plot of the film other than it revolves around a group of supervillains (or at least characters who have played bad guys at one point in MCU). Marvel has been in touch with certain individuals who are already part of the MCU to make sure to keep an opening in their schedules for next summer when it shoots.

For those unfamiliar with the Thunderbolts, it would be fair to say that they are Marvel’s equivalent to the Suicide Squad; however, they don’t have bombs in their necks forcing them to save the world against their will. Instead, they are recruited by General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Sadly, William Hurt, who played Marvel Cinematic Universe, passed away in May. He has since been recast by Harrison Ford, who will debut in Captain America: New World Order. The character was last seen in Black Widow in frail condition, leading people to believe he could become Red Hulk by subjecting himself to a variant of the Super Soldier Program.

In the comics, the Thunderbolts have consisted of Baron Zemo, U.S. Agent, the Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova, Ghost, Taskmaster, and Abomination, all of which currently exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Additionally, Deadpool, Luke Cage, and even Ghost Rider have served on the team at some point.

SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly