Marvel Films MCU Thunderbolts - Team suggestions?

[Shoppy]

I keep considering the possibility of a Thunderbolts film and what the team line-up might look like should one happen.
I'm currently leaning towards something like this...

Red Hulk / Elliot Ross (I wouldn't be the first to suggest he should be the MCUs Rulk rather than General Ross)

Iron Patriot / Helmut Zemo (as an alternative to Osborne being IP and with Citizen V being less suited to film)

Ghost / ? (I'm hoping Hannah John-Kamen's character turns out to be Rita DeMara, becomes Yellowjacket II and eventually joins a GOTG team)

Goliath II / Tom Foster

Black Widow II / Yelena Belova

Beetle/Mach X / Abner Jenkins

...and would a Mac Gargan Venom be too much to hope for?



What do you think an MCU Thunderbolts team will look like if it happens, or what team would you have liked to see either from the comics or made up from MCU characters?

 

[Silvermoth]

I want this one

 

[SirStrangefolk]

I'd personally prefer to have the original Thunderbolts from the comics. Led by Zemo, with Goliath/Atlas, Beetle/Mach, Techno/Fixer, Screaming Mimi/Songbird, Moonstone/Meteorite. Possibly with Thunderbolt Ross being involved in some way. And preferably with appearances as minor villains in previous movies before.

To me that's more important than having some surprise reveal, although that could still be done.

In order for that to happen they'd either have to not announce their movie/announce it under a false name (like the Serpent Society thing) and then change their announcement after a surprise appearance of the team with the reveal included in an earlier movie.

Or have them all appear with the personas of other heroes. Like, have Melissa Gold apear as "Motormouth", Karla Sofen as "Doctor Spectrum" or "Captain Universe", Erik Josten under the alias "Tom Foster" or "Raz Malhotra" as the new "Goliath" or "Giant Man", Abner Jenkins as "Stingray" or "Darkhawk" or "American Son" or "Hornet", Paul Ebersol as "Deathlok", "Cardiac" or "Victorious", etc.

But again, that might not be necessary, it's enough for me to just have the team.

If we had to use previously introduced characters I'd say

Zemo/Citizen V as the "Captain America"
Abomination as the "Hulk"
Justin Hammer/Detroit Steel as the "Iron Man"
...
I got nothing

 

[Set]

Maya Henderson, from Iron Man 3, was the inventor of Extremis, and there's no reason why she couldn't have used it on herself and survived her apparent death in Iron Man 3, and perhaps join this group.

 

[Silvermoth]

That would be cool

 

[TheVileOne]

The MCU doesn't really have a strong backlog of villains for the Thunderbolts.

IMHO the best lineup for Thunderbolts was always the original:

Zemo - Citizen V
Beetle - Mach V
Screaming Mimi - Songbird
Moonstone - Meteorite
Goliath - Atlas
Fixer - Techno

The great thing about Thunderbolts is that they were introduced as this new sort of successor Avengers team when it was the Masters of Evil in disguise the whole time.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

The MCU doesn't really have a strong backlog of villains for the Thunderbolts.

IMHO the best lineup for Thunderbolts was always the original:

Zemo - Citizen V
Beetle - Mach V
Screaming Mimi - Songbird
Moonstone - Meteorite
Goliath - Atlas
Fixer - Techno

The great thing about Thunderbolts is that they were introduced as this new sort of successor Avengers team when it was the Masters of Evil in disguise the whole time.

This, plus Jolt. She's the heart and soul of the team

 

[TheVileOne]

I love Jolt, but she wasn't part of the original team hence why I didn't include her on the list. She was only team member in the original run who was a legitimate hero recruited to the team not knowing their secrets.

I really believe the original Thunderbolts run was pure genius. The first 12 or so issues were like one of my favorite stories in superhero comics ever.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I love Jolt, but she wasn't part of the original team hence why I didn't include her on the list. She was only team member in the original run who was a legitimate hero recruited to the team not knowing their secrets.

I really believe the original Thunderbolts run was pure genius. The first 12 or so issues were like one of my favorite stories in superhero comics ever.

Same here. I loved the original run. I even really enjoyed it after the original arc when Moonstone and Hawkeye were leading the team.

Jolt wasn't a part of the team originally, but she did join very early on (and I believe is introduced in the very first issue, if I remember correctly) so I generally think of here as being a part of the original lineup. She certainly joined in their first story arc. Her role is such that it makes her character important, for the reasons you mention above. She's different from the rest of the team in being a legitimate hero.

 

[TheVileOne]

I don't know how you approach Thunderbolts in a movie. In the MCU, the stakes and activities of superheroes are different.

You don't have established career super-villains in MCU like you do in the comics. In the original Thunderbolts story, you had a team of super-villains masquerading as heroes because Zemo was being opportunistic and all the major heroes were believed to be dead because of Onslaught (FF and Avengers). This was a world pre-Civil War. Those heroes were very beloved and worked hand-in-hand with the government. The other members were career criminals going along with Zemo's plans. Then they gradually enjoyed the adulation of being heroes and decided to rebel against Zemo (for the most part). Finally they are no longer pariahs of society and they realize helping people isn't so bad.

Over time it changed though. So what direction do you take? Do you take Civil War direction of former villains doing the dirty work of the superhero regulations? Do you take the post-civil war approach of former villains and mistfits doing the dirty work and jobs other superheroes won't do? Or the black ops stuff like the Deadpool, Punisher, Red Hulk, Elektra run? Do you take the bad guys masquerading as heroes approach for a more sinister goal? How do take the Thunderbolts concept and make it a movie?

Just for example, with Guardians of the Galaxy, they took the critically acclaimed Abnett and Lanning run and lineup, tweaked it a bit, and made that their movie. Ragtag motley crew of heroes in space.

What lineup can you even use for the MCU? Yeah there's Zemo? But who else is there?

- Yellowjacket is dead
- Venom is at Sony in separate thing
- Crossbones is dead
- Elektra is at Netflix
- Punisher is at Netflix
- Deadpool not yet in MCU, still has his own separate solo franchise
- Abomination MIA for 10 years
- Vulture, maybe?

Realistically you'd have to introduce your whole cast other than MAYBE Zemo in a new movie.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I don't think there is a much of an issue with that if they use the original team. Most of them were D-Listers to begin with. Moonstone has the possibility of being the villain in a Captain Marvel film, but really only she and Zemo can realistically carry a film out of the original lineup. Maybe Fixer.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

I don't know how you approach Thunderbolts in a movie. In the MCU, the stakes and activities of superheroes are different.

You don't have established career super-villains in MCU like you do in the comics. In the original Thunderbolts story, you had a team of super-villains masquerading as heroes because Zemo was being opportunistic and all the major heroes were believed to be dead because of Onslaught (FF and Avengers). This was a world pre-Civil War. Those heroes were very beloved and worked hand-in-hand with the government. The other members were career criminals going along with Zemo's plans. Then they gradually enjoyed the adulation of being heroes and decided to rebel against Zemo (for the most part). Finally they are no longer pariahs of society and they realize helping people isn't so bad.

Over time it changed though. So what direction do you take? Do you take Civil War direction of former villains doing the dirty work of the superhero regulations? Do you take the post-civil war approach of former villains and mistfits doing the dirty work and jobs other superheroes won't do? Or the black ops stuff like the Deadpool, Punisher, Red Hulk, Elektra run? Do you take the bad guys masquerading as heroes approach for a more sinister goal? How do take the Thunderbolts concept and make it a movie?

Just for example, with Guardians of the Galaxy, they took the critically acclaimed Abnett and Lanning run and lineup, tweaked it a bit, and made that their movie. Ragtag motley crew of heroes in space.

What lineup can you even use for the MCU? Yeah there's Zemo? But who else is there?

- Yellowjacket is dead
- Venom is at Sony in separate thing
- Crossbones is dead
- Elektra is at Netflix
- Punisher is at Netflix
- Deadpool not yet in MCU, still has his own separate solo franchise
- Abomination MIA for 10 years
- Vulture, maybe?

Realistically you'd have to introduce your whole cast other than MAYBE Zemo in a new movie.

I think the best way to go is to have Thunderbolt Ross attempt the "post-civil war approach of former villains and mistfits doing the dirty work and jobs other superheroes won't do" after Infinity War, with Zemo then manipulating the whole thing for his own purposes. It shouldn't be too government operatives or black ops to differentiate it from Suicide Squad though.

There is an issue with introducing all the characters though. I would've liked it if some of them had been introduced at a sort of Batroc level, but that's not happening.

If it had to be previously introduced characters I'd say definitely
-Zemo
-Abomination
-Justin Hammer as Detroit Steel

Then there is the surviving villains I'm not sure of how well they'd fit:
-Leader
-Loki
-Batroc
-Klaw
-Mordo
-Prowler/Iron Spider
-Vulture
-Shocker
-Scorpion

The ones that haven't even appeared yet:
-Killmonger
-Man-Ape
-Ghost
(-Egghead?)

And the ones that we don't even know whether they'll be in the same universe:
-Venom
-She-Venom
-Carnage
-Silver Sable
-Black Cat
-Robot-Master?
-Chameleon?
-any of the dozen Spider-Man villains rumored to be in Silver&Black

So yeah..

I'd prefer the original team as well.

 

[TheVileOne]

I don't think there is a much of an issue with that if they use the original team. Most of them were D-Listers to begin with. Moonstone has the possibility of being the villain in a Captain Marvel film, but really only she and Zemo can realistically carry a film out of the original lineup. Maybe Fixer.

But like if this Zemo does start a new team, what is his goal and MO? Wreck the good name of superheroes by causing lots of collateral damage?

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

But like if this Zemo does start a new team, what is his goal and MO? Wreck the good name of superheroes by causing lots of collateral damage?

Maybe. Maybe he becomes more fascist because of what happened in Civil War and feels he should take over the world too. I think there are things they could do with Zemo.

But I think the Norman Osborne Era Thunderbolts where they are criminal mercenaries working for the federal government is too similar to what was done in Suicide Squad and I think it is better approach to do something different, which the original Zemo/Moonstone/Hawkeye run was where they were first actively trying to take over the world and then try to redeem themselves by becoming real heroes while avoiding the authorities. That whole arc sets them up not just for a film, but for a whole trilogy or series of films. And it is something we haven't really seen before in a superhero film. I'm a big believer in having these heroes/teams fit into their own niches in order to stand out more and avoid repetition. A lot of people complain about all these films being similar enough as it is.

Now granted, this does present the problem of having Zemo escape from prison, while the working for the government angle gives an easy explanation, but I think they can find a way around that.

Regardless of what they do, I really would want Zemo, Moonstone, and Songbird on the team. Those are probably the three characters that have become most associated with the Thunderbolts over the years. Leaving them out is kind of like doing the first X-Men movie and leaving Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine out. Or doing Avengers and leaving out Iron Man, Cap, and Thor.

 

[Roose Bolton]

They'd not use the character otherwise, so it'd be cool if they found a way to include the Abomination in an MCU Thunderbolts.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

They'd not use the character otherwise, so it'd be cool if they found a way to include the Abomination in an MCU Thunderbolts.

God... Imagine a scene with Roth coming back as the character going back and forth with Mark R.'s Banner?

Hey... That's not a bad idea...

As Hulk still ain't getting his own solo maybe work him into this? Thunderbolts vs. Hulk?

 

[TheVileOne]

Maybe. Maybe he becomes more fascist because of what happened in Civil War and feels he should take over the world too. I think there are things they could do with Zemo.

But I think the Norman Osborne Era Thunderbolts where they are criminal mercenaries working for the federal government is too similar to what was done in Suicide Squad and I think it is better approach to do something different, which the original Zemo/Moonstone/Hawkeye run was where they were first actively trying to take over the world and then try to redeem themselves by becoming real heroes while avoiding the authorities. That whole arc sets them up not just for a film, but for a whole trilogy or series of films. And it is something we haven't really seen before in a superhero film. I'm a big believer in having these heroes/teams fit into their own niches in order to stand out more and avoid repetition. A lot of people complain about all these films being similar enough as it is.

I want something based on the original run as well, but Moonstone isn't going to be in Captain Marvel. The villains are Skrulls. Plus Moonstone is set in the early 1990s as well, so you'd then have to have a whole thing about Moonstone's age as well.

Now granted, this does present the problem of having Zemo escape from prison, while the working for the government angle gives an easy explanation, but I think they can find a way around that.

Zemo would have to escape. You can't on any level justify the government employing the guy who pre-meditated the murder of the King of Wakanda and people in the UN.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I hope Moonstone comes into the MCU by CM2.

 

[Silvermoth]

Me too, she's so rad

 

[CaptainWagner]

I would love to see [BLACKOUT]Ghost and Bill Foster[/BLACKOUT] head up a Thunderbolts movie. It would be a logical continuation of their story.

 

[MasterCat]

Can I suggest actually letting Zemo form a Masters of Evil team to fight the Avengers rather than skipping to Thunderbolts?

 

[MbJ]

After seeing Endgame.

Spoiler

I could see a situation with Zemo creating the Thunderbolts to try and fill the void left behind by the Avengers and fool the public.

 

[Dasher10]

Zemo, Shocker, Ghost and Bullseye should definitely be on the team. Possibly also Thaddeus Ross as Rulk but I'm not sure how he'd manage to fit in with the rest of them.

 

[TheVileOne]

After seeing Endgame.

Spoiler

I could see a situation with Zemo creating the Thunderbolts to try and fill the void left behind by the Avengers and fool the public.

that makes no sense.

Spoiler

The Avengers aren't really gone, so what void is Zemo trying to fill? The only ones that are gone are Captain America, kinda, and Iron Man. And I guess Thor. But only Iron Man died. Thor just went off on his own somewhere, and Captain America passed his shield down to Falcon.

 

[MbJ]

that makes no sense.

We know nothing about what the state of the universe is gonna look like in these coming movies.

Zemo, Shocker, Ghost and Bullseye should definitely be on the team. Possibly also Thaddeus Ross as Rulk but I'm not sure how he'd manage to fit in with the rest of them.

Shocker would be cool. But they might be saving him for an eventual Sinister Six in a Spider-Man sequel.