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 Studio’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 Universe’s Suicide Squad, which has so far spawned two movies, you aren’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 Pugh’s Yelena Belova character will be part of the team’s roster, operating as The Thunderbolts’ version of Black Widow, the character played by Scarlett Johansson.
Said Justin Kroll on said podcast, Florence Pugh “has 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 team”.
Whilst it isn’t surprising that Pugh will be featuring in the project, the claim that she’ll be leading the team is noteworthy, simply because her character hasn’t led the team before in the source material, whilst other characters that could appear such as Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo or Wyatt Russell’s US Agent have. That said, with Pugh set to appear in the Dune sequel and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer following a string of high profile and critically-acclaimed performances, it’s very easy to see why Marvel Studio’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.
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