Marvel Films MCU Thunderbolts - Team suggestions?

[Bayne]

Red Hulk was too popular in the comics for him not be used, imo. So I think he is coming at some point somewhere. But another thing I think point towards Thunderbolts carrying his namesake is in the MCU, they will more than likely be formed to be the team the Accords creates to adhere to the Accords in a way the Avengers never did and Ross was heavily involved in the creation of the Accords. I can easily see the world thinking Ross to be dead only for him to emerge as Red Hulk

They've skipped plenty of popular characters. And Red Hulk's popularity is relative to other Hulk characters not to all of Marvel in general. In a different situation, I'd say it's just a matter of time before they use him, but the character really isn't so heavily popular that they 'need' to use him and the actor's death sadly changes things. I won't be at all surprised if they just choose not to use him.

I also won't be shocked by any means if they recast or just do a full cgi Red Hulk at some point, but that is by no means a guarantee just based on the character's popularity.

 

[Spider-Fan]

They've skipped plenty of popular characters. And Red Hulk's popularity is relative to other Hulk characters not to all of Marvel in general. In a different situation, I'd say it's just a matter of time before they use him, but the character really isn't so heavily popular that they 'need' to use him and the actor's death sadly changes things. I won't be at all surprised if they just choose not to use him.

I also won't be shocked by any means if they recast or just do a full cgi Red Hulk at some point, but that is by no means a guarantee just based on the character's popularity.

Actually, I think William Hurt's death makes using him as Red Hulk MORE likely. Easiest way to recast him is to make the character Red Hulk and hire an actor to emulate Hurt's voice.

 

[Bayne]

Actually, I think William Hurt's death makes using him as Red Hulk MORE likely. Easiest way to recast him is to make the character Red Hulk and hire an actor to emulate Hurt's voice.

But the point is they don't need to recast him per se. There wouldn't be anything shocking about them just letting the character lie entirely on account of the actor died.

 

[Spider-Fan]

But the point is they don't need to recast him per se. There wouldn't be anything shocking about them just letting the character lie entirely on account of the actor died.

Sure, but why do that for a character who is potentially very popular and is one of the longest tenured villains across the franchise we still have? I don't think retiring Ross as a character would be wise at all.

 

[Kev4000]

I am totally fine with this group if the action follows the vibes from Shang Chi (first and second act) or Winter Soldier. Maybe we can avoid the CGI-explosion this time.

 

[Albright]

Too many super soldier projects in 2024.
If Deadpool 3 is the February project, than he‘s technically another superhero, who has his superpowers because of it

 

[Dr. Evil]

Except for their nationalities, there's no difference between Alexei and John Walker at all and no difference in powers or look from the OG Steve Rogers. At least Bucky has that bionic arm that makes him different than Steve Rogers. My long standing issue in the MCU has been characters with the same super powers but without anything different that sets them a part from the original, which was a big problem for me in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. With She Hulk, we get her with 4th wall breaking, which (no matter if it's good or bad) is something Hulk cannot do, which I am fine with plus Blonsky looks different than Hulk, as he has scales and both She Hulk and Abomination can easily turn back to human form more than Hulk can (Hulk has to use a device to turn him back to human). Rhodey has different weapons on his War Machine armor than Tony Stark did with his Iron Man armor.

I am still holding to the theory that the reason Tim Roth wasn't a part of the cast of Thunderbolts is because Blonsky's story isn't finished in She Hulk and putting him in the movie right now is a spoiler to his status.

 

[CaptainWagner]

The amount of people complaining about the lineup because this team has similar powers/skills is so wrong to me. It's like a lot of fans only see the characters as soulless power charts and base their wishes on what would look cool, disregarding personality and relevance to story.

This team isn't being built to have an "aesthetically complimentary power assortment" or whatever. The Contessa is clearly picking people because they have SPECIFIC SKILLS AND ABILITIES that match her intentions. They definitely seem to be going for the BlackOps espionage route with this team, and that's awesome, IMO. Keep it covert, small-scale, don't fall into the Suicide Squad trap. That movie sounds really great, and I'm excited to see these personalities interacting.

If Abomination IS revealed, I hope it's as a Hail Mary-type secret weapon who only powers-up in worst-case scenarios, because otherwise he doesn't make sense for a spy team.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

They definitely seem to be going for the BlackOps espionage route with this team, and that's awesome, IMO. Keep it covert, small-scale, don't fall into the Suicide Squad trap. That movie sounds really great, and I'm excited to see these personalities interacting.

If Abomination IS revealed, I hope it's as a Hail Mary-type secret weapon who only powers-up in worst-case scenarios, because otherwise he doesn't make sense for a spy team.

My whole issue is that I don't want the Thunderbolts to be anything like a spy or black ops team. Their whole thing was that they emulated the popular hero teams with flashy costumes, different looks and powers and very public appearances despite not really being as heroic.They're not some kind of covert taskforce like the Suicide Squad, they need PR.

 

[Bayne]

Sure, but why do that for a character who is potentially very popular and is one of the longest tenured villains across the franchise we still have? I don't think retiring Ross as a character would be wise at all.

Because he's not that big of a deal. I don't think his popularity is even close to the point of genuinely helping or hurting any movie and I don't think losing him now would really make any difference at all to the wider MCU. Especially since he never actually was Red Hulk, he was just Government Oversight Guy which is a position that can be filled by anyone. Would it have been nice to have more of him? Sure. Would it be acceptable to have him recast? Sure. Is it just as acceptable to just move on from him? Yes. It is. And I really don't think it will adversely affect the stories or the box office no matter whether they do or don't bring him back.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Because he's not that big of a deal. I don't think his popularity is even close to the point of genuinely helping or hurting any movie and I don't think losing him now would really make any difference at all to the wider MCU. Especially since he never actually was Red Hulk, he was just Government Oversight Guy which is a position that can be filled by anyone. Would it have been nice to have more of him? Sure. Would it be acceptable to have him recast? Sure. Is it just as acceptable to just move on from him? Yes. It is. And I really don't think it will adversely affect the stories or the box office no matter whether they do or don't bring him back.

See, I don't agree. I don't think losing Ross would hurt the BO or anything, but I def think Red Hulk would make people more interested. We can agree to disagree on this point and that is fine, but I def think your average movie goer would want to see people fight Red Hulk in a movie. More so than bringing back a dude like The Leader, which they don't NEED to do either, but are still doing it.

 

[Bayne]

See, I don't agree. I don't think losing Ross would hurt the BO or anything, but I def think Red Hulk would make people more interested. We can agree to disagree on this point and that is fine, but I def think your average movie goer would want to see people fight Red Hulk in a movie. More so than bringing back a dude like The Leader, which they don't NEED to do either, but are still doing it.

Except the average moviegoer doesn't know Red Hulk was ever an option, so they're not going to miss what they never had. And I don't think the average movie goer would have actually made *that* much differentiation between a big Red Hulk fight or a big Abomination fight, which they probably still will see again. They're both just 'Oh, so that guy's like another Hulk?' characters.

But yes we can certainly agree to disagree in any case.

 

[CaptainWagner]

My whole issue is that I don't want the Thunderbolts to be anything like a spy or black ops team. Their whole thing was that they emulated the popular hero teams with flashy costumes, different looks and powers and very public appearances despite not really being as heroic.They're not some kind of covert taskforce like the Suicide Squad, they need PR.

Thunderbolts haven't been that in a very long time though. Pretty much ever since the first rune they've been the Suicide Squad-esque BlackOps team. And ever since the Contessa started recruiting, it seemed pretty clear that was the version they were going with. (And given the number of people asking "Where's Red Hulk and Abomination?" it would seem that was what most people expected.

 

[Albright]

The amount of people complaining about the lineup because this team has similar powers/skills is so wrong to me. It's like a lot of fans only see the characters as soulless power charts and base their wishes on what would look cool, disregarding personality and relevance to story.

This team isn't being built to have an "aesthetically complimentary power assortment" or whatever. The Contessa is clearly picking people because they have SPECIFIC SKILLS AND ABILITIES that match her intentions. They definitely seem to be going for the BlackOps espionage route with this team, and that's awesome, IMO. Keep it covert, small-scale, don't fall into the Suicide Squad trap. That movie sounds really great, and I'm excited to see these personalities interacting.

If Abomination IS revealed, I hope it's as a Hail Mary-type secret weapon who only powers-up in worst-case scenarios, because otherwise he doesn't make sense for a spy team.

you have your opinion, others have their own…

 

[psylockolussus]

They wouldn't because the whole point of the Thunderbolts is that they're supposed to be 'reformed' villains and criminals. Jane and Riri clearly don't fit that at all. People were thinking the Tbolts would somewhat mirror the Avengers lineup so they expected Abomination to mirror Hulk, someone like Detroit Steel to mirror Iron Man and another character to mirror Thor. Usually that would be someone like Ragnarok, Hercules, Loki, Skurge or Ares. Not Jane....

And since when Yelena, Red Guardian and Allegra were mcu villains? They weren't, not even villainous.

Also I didn't say Jane and Ironheart should have been included. I was merely quoting someone that there's a 2.0.version of Iron Man and Thor.

 

[Bayne]

Thunderbolts haven't been that in a very long time though. Pretty much ever since the first rune they've been the Suicide Squad-esque BlackOps team. And ever since the Contessa started recruiting, it seemed pretty clear that was the version they were going with. (And given the number of people asking "Where's Red Hulk and Abomination?" it would seem that was what most people expected.

That's just not true.

Thunderbolts have been a full-on super team throughout the entire first run and second run and third run. They skirted closer to Suicide Squad stuff during the Dark Reign era when Osborn stuffed the team with unrepetent villains and preferred to use the Dark Avengers rather than the T-Bolts for big public operations, but even in that era they were still way more powerful on average than the average Suicide Squad line-up and they were still constantly dealing with the classic Thunderbolts themes of whether villains could redeem themselves or not and they were still repeatedly used for public operations despite Osborn usually preferring his Avengers.

There was a brief hiccup at the end of the second run where the book suddenly had nothing to do with the Thunderbolts anymore (the idiotic boxing ring storyline), but that also had nothing to do with anything even remotely similar to the Suicide Squad.

Then came the third run with Luke Cage that was 100% a restoration in full of the original concept.

Then came the Thunderbolt Ross run which had nothing whatsoever to do with the Thunderbolts concept, but also had nothing whatsoever to do with the Suicide Squad concept.

Then there were the Bucky Thunderbolts who only existed for one mission that was carried out in secret because their only real mission was to stop the bad guys from getting ahold of the living cosmic cube they had on the team. But that one still drew directly from Thunderbolts themes and history while having basically nothing in common with the Suicide Squad, either.

The most recent King in Black mini-series is the only version of the Thunderbolts that ever truly felt like the Suicide Squad (for good reason, since it was very clearly doing it on purpose and even homaged the scene of Harley Quinn stealing random **** on the way to the mission from the first SS movie). And even in that one, the Squad was still a very public team that was supposed to secure credit for the Kingpin for stopping the King in Black.

 

[Sithborg]

Meh, seems more like a sequel to Black Widow than anything, and I am okay with that.

 

[Lily Adler]

Thunderbolts | The SuperHeroHype Forums

New section, enjoy!

 

[SirStrangefolk]

And since when Yelena, Red Guardian and Allegra were mcu villains? They weren't, not even villainous.

Also I didn't say Jane and Ironheart should have been included. I was merely quoting someone that
there's a 2.0.version of Iron Man and Thor.

As far as the government/public is concerned Yelena was a murdering Black Widow assassin controlled by the Red Room who publically tried to kill the hero and Avenger Hawkeye and Red Guardian was a Soviet operative and spy who has willingly worked for Dreykov, destroyed US intelligence, and was cooperative in the taking of preteen girls for the Widow program.

They are most certainly seen as criminals.

Valentina is different because she's basically being presented as essentially this team's Amanda Waller, but even then at this point she has been kept mysterious and her allegiances unknown. She's certainly been framed as being very sketchy. In the comics she was a triple agent working for Leviathan.

I really don't see how those could be compared to Jane or Riri, and clearly others were talking about including an Iron Man and Thor equivalent that fit on a Thunderbolts team, not just any random potential replacement..

 

[JtheDreamer]

Essentially a gaggle of super soldiers .......... and Ghost? Wut?

Sigh. I had much higher hopes for this property. Hopefully Arbor, Stan, and Russell can save this, but I have zero confidence at this point. Guess I have to wail until the movie's villain(s) get announced to perhaps be a little more inspired.

 

[Albright]

Red Guardian is unnecessary imho. But maybe he could bring Iron Maiden (love the actress and the armour)

 

[metaphysician]

I agree there is a bit of duplicative powers with the super soldiers. But as long as they take on a threat that isn’t avengers level, I think it’s fine.

Honestly, an Avengers-level threat on the lower end would be fine, too. They do have multiple super soldiers, an intangible assassin, and a heck of a lot of tech and weaponry. Sure, they would have to approach a problem in a "Super Commando" fashion rather than an "Invincible Flying Demigod" fashion, but its not like they are the typical Suicide Squad roster of expendable redshirts.

 

[BoredGuy]

Replace Taskmaster with Songbird and add Abomination and its perfect, imo

 

[Bayne]

I would not be at all surprised if something very much like that winds up happening in the 3rd act of the movie.

 

[metaphysician]

And since when Yelena, Red Guardian and Allegra were mcu villains? They weren't, not even villainous.

Also I didn't say Jane and Ironheart should have been included. I was merely quoting someone that there's a 2.0.version of Iron Man and Thor.

Um. . . did you not watch Black Widow and Hawkeye? Yelena spent a good chunk of time trying to murder Hawkeye, the Contessa is the one who hired her out to do said murdering, and Red Guardian spent his entire career working as a Soviet spy including knowing collaboration with the Red Room. To say that they are not villainous in the slightest is to lie about their actions on screen. The best that could be said about any of them is that they aren't *always* villainous, perhaps having taken a redemptive turn at some point. And this doesn't apply to Val, literally every time she's appeared on screen she's been doing her best to come off as White Amanda Waller.