Florence Pugh tipped to star in MCU take on The Thunderbolts

Florence Pugh in Black Widow
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Florence Pugh is reportedly in line to take the lead in the upcoming ensemble movie The Thunderbolts, which will feature a host of Marvel characters.  July 2024 will mark the end of Marvel Studioā€™s Phase 4, with the release of The Thunderbolts, a team-up movie that throws together a bunch of bad guys working under government orders. If that sounds more than a little like the DC Extended Universeā€™s Suicide Squad, which has so far spawned two movies, you arenā€™t far wrong. The Marvel version, in the comics at least, has often featured darker counterparts of well-known heroes, with U.S Agent, Venom and Abomination all featuring as analogues to beloved heroes, Captain America, Spider-Man and Hulk. Although none of the characters mentioned above have yet been confirmed, that trend looks set to continue with The Town podcast revealing that Florence Pughā€™s Yelena Belova character will be part of the teamā€™s roster, operating as The Thunderboltsā€™ version of Black Widow, the character played by Scarlett Johansson. Said Justin Kroll on said podcast, Florence Pugh ā€œhas got the Marvel superhero that’s already got a spin-off. Upcoming for her actually, on that character is this Thunderbolts film, which is basically Marvel’s Suicide Squad. Hopefully, it has better results. But the concept is it’d be her leading the teamā€. Whilst it isnā€™t surprising that Pugh will be featuring in the project, the claim that sheā€™ll be leading the team is noteworthy, simply because her character hasnā€™t led the team before in the source material, whilst other characters that could appear such as Daniel Brühlā€™s Baron Zemo or Wyatt Russellā€™s US Agent have. That said, with Pugh set to appear in the Dune sequel and Christopher Nolanā€™s Oppenheimer following a string of high profile and critically-acclaimed performances, itā€™s very easy to see why Marvel Studioā€™s might be keen to build a franchise around her. With some sections of the MCU fanbase signalling that the franchise is feeling a little stale, a film with a different angle such as this one might be a welcome sight. More as we hear it. ā€” Thank you for visiting! If youā€™d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. Buy our Film Stories and Film Junior print magazines here. Become a Patron here.
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