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Summary

• Thunderbolts features a collection of antiheroes operating for the US government, with Bucky Barnes as the reported field leader.
• The main challenge lies in revisiting the characters' past appearances in the MCU, with 7 movies and a Disney+ series for Bucky alone.
• The strength of having known characters together creates both a key strength and a potential weakness, as audiences may struggle to remember their previous appearances and roles (Ghost's last appearance was 6 years and 30 MCU projects ago).

Bucky Barnes' upcoming Avengers replacement team has one big problem the MCU won't be able to fix. Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* is set to release in 2025, featuring a collection of antiheroes who operate in the gray on behalf of the US government. However, one of the movie's most exciting elements may also prove to be one of its biggest challenges at the same time.
In 2022, Marvel Studios officially announced its upcoming Thunderbolts* project and key cast of characters. This includes Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes (the former Winter Soldier), who's been teased as the new MCU team's field leader. At the same time, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine will officially run the team in the interests of the American government. Other notable members include Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, David Harbour's Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell's U.S.Agent, Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster, and Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, all of them being pre-existing characters who've been seen before in the MCU (which may pose a key problem).
Related How To Watch the Marvel Movies In Order (By Release Date & In Order Of MCU Timeline Events) Want to catch up before the next release, or just revisit the universe for a refresher? Here"s the order to watch the entire MCU timeline.
Revisiting Thunderbolts' Cast Is A Major MCU Undertaking Lots Of Previous Watch-Time The main cast of Thunderbolts* announced thus far all have one thing in common: they're all pre-existing characters who've already been introduced in the MCU. Case in point, Sebastian Stan's Bucky has been a part of this massive interconnected universe for almost a decade and half. Likewise, each other member of this new team has been debuted in previous MCU projects.
Beyond Bucky, Ghost made her debut in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, while Yelena Belova, Taskmaster, and Red Guardian all entered the MCU through 2020's Black Widow. Likewise, U.S.Agent and Valentina debuted in 2021's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. To that end, bringing all of these known characters together as one dynamic government- team is quite an undertaking for Marvel Studios and the MCU. However, it does create some interesting wrinkles.
Bucky's MCU Timeline Is Great For The Franchise (But Makes Thunderbolts More Complicated) The Winter Soldier Has Dealt With A Lot Close Zeroing in on Barnes alone, seeing Bucky leading a brand-new team of heroes in the MCU creates a noteworthy obstacle. Initially, the former Winter Soldier getting the opportunity to help lead a group of similar characters with darker and more questionable pasts is very exciting and a great premise for a future MCU project. However, there's undeniably quite a lot of ground to cover and foreknowledge needed to truly understand where Bucky has been and what kind of person he'll be at the start of 2025's Thunderbolts*.
Since his debut in 2011's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sebastian Stan's Bucky/Winter Soldier/White Wolf has appeared in a total of seven MCU movies. Bucky also has 2021's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, his own Disney+ series shared with Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson who eventually becomes the next Captain America. Of those projects, 5 of those movies (and his series) are crucial to understanding the full scope of Bucky's extensive journey in the MCU:
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier Appearances
Year
Captain America: The First Avenger
(2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
(2014)
Ant-Man
(2015)
Captain America: Civil War
(2016)
Black Panther
(2018)
Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)
Avengers: Endgame
(2019)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
(2021)
Having gone from a Howling Commando in WWII to a brainwashed Hydra assassin who was eventually saved by Steve Rogers' Captain America, Bucky is currently a hero in the modern era, struggling to find redemption while grappling with his darker past. That said, this does mean that audiences will have quite a bit of watch-time ahead of them should they want to truly get acquainted with Bucky's complex story, or even those wanting a refresher ahead of 2025's Thunderbolts*. However, Bucky Banes is certainly not the only factor at play.
Thunderbolts' Strongest Cast Trick Creates 1 Problem For The Upcoming MCU Movie Reminding Audiences Where The Thunderbolts Have Been (And Even Who They Are) Custom image by Ollie Bradley In the same vein, the true strength of Thunderbolts* getting so many known characters together for a new MCU team also creates a potential weakness. The true challenge will be if audiences can even remember some of these team members to begin with before recalling when and where they were last seen and what they've been up to since. As a prime example, Ghost's first and last MCU appearance was 6 years ago, and over 30 projects will have been released between then and when Thunderbolts* hits theaters. To that end, there's certainly a lot to take into account regarding this upcoming superhero team.
Thunderbolts (2025) Not Yet Rated AdventureAction Marvel's Thunderbolts is a superhero movie based on the comic team of the same name. The movie acts as a part of the MCU's fifth phase of films. The film sees the likes of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell, the Red Guardian, and more as an unlikely group of heroes and villains brought together to fight for good.
Director Jake Schreier Release Date May 2, 2025 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Distributor(s) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Writers Lee Sung Jin Cast Sebastian Stan , Wyatt Russell , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Tim Roth , Daniel Brühl , Florence Pugh , David Harbour , Olga Kurylenko , Harrison Ford Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Budget $200 million Expand Upcoming Marvel Movies
Release Date
Deadpool & Wolverine
July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 2, 2025
The Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027