Meet the ‘Thunderbolts*’: Go Behind the Scenes of Marvel Studios’ Action Epic

Marvel’s least-anticipated band of misfits is ready for action.

Marvel Studios’ new film Thunderbolts* assembles a ragtag team of antiheroes from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, uniting them for an unexpected and dangerous new mission. Directed by Jake Schreier, the film follows this unconventional crew as they find themselves caught up in a deadly conspiracy, orchestrated by scheming CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

With the film in theaters now, Marvel.com caught up with a few key members of the Thunderbolts* cast, who shared a behind-the-scenes peek at how they assembled this oddball team.

Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)

Natasha Romanoff’s little sister became a fan favorite as soon as she made her debut in 2021’s Black Widow. Now, Yelena is stepping into the spotlight herself, this time as the de facto leader of a new team.

For Pugh, returning for Thunderbolts* required a leap of faith — literally. The actress executed one of the film’s most impressive stunts, jumping from the top of the second tallest building in the world, the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“I don’t know why I forced myself to do that!” Pugh said with a laugh at the film’s red-carpet premiere in Hollywood. “I was tap, tap, tapping away on all the emails, like, ‘You need to let me jump off the second tallest building in the world!’ I don’t know why I did it, but I’m so grateful I did. It was a mad experience. Every time I watch that stunt and I watch myself step off the edge, my stomach doesn’t even flip — it just drops to my feet!”

Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)

Steve Rogers’ oldest friend has played many roles over the years — soldier, assassin, Avenger — but Thunderbolts* finds him adopting a new persona: politician. After a lifetime of fighting in the shadows, Bucky now takes on a more public-facing job, serving his country as a congressman. (His district? Brooklyn, of course.)

Stan tells Marvel.com that he was intrigued by the idea of playing Congressman Barnes, and he wanted to explore how Bucky might search for meaning in public service — even if his people skills are a little rusty.

“I thought it was interesting and kind of funny that he’s still trying to give back or serve in some way, even though he’s not in a comfortable place or very good at it,” the actor explains. “It was really Kevin [Feige]’s idea to take him there.”

Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)

The last time fans saw Ava in 2018’s Ant-Man and The Wasp, the one-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had gone into hiding, searching for a way to contain her molecular instability (which allows her to phase through solid matter). “We left Ava in a completely different state of mind,” John-Kamen says. “Where she is now, she’s very much in control.”

The actress added that she was eager to play a new, more confident Ava in Thunderbolts* — especially if it meant she got to wear a new, high-tech Ghost suit.

“It was a freeing kind of refresh, and her costume [had] an incredible glow-up,” John-Kamen says with a smile. “She’s very powerful and she’s not at death’s door anymore, so it was an exciting new journey to be had.”

Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour)

Introduced in Black Widow, Yelena’s adoptive father is still mourning his glory days as a Russian super-soldier. But he’s since found a new gig driving for the Red Guardian Limo Service. (The company’s tagline promises to “protect you from boring evening.”) Joining his daughter on the Thunderbolts, he often serves as the team’s comedic heart.

“There’s a lot of really funny stuff in this movie,” Harbour teased at the Hollywood premiere. “[Alexei] is the obvious choice for the comedic relief, and he does have a puppy-dog energy that I hope you enjoy. But you’ll find a lot of comedy throughout this thing. Even the driest among us, like Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, can be very, very funny at times.”

John Walker (Wyatt Russell)

Russell first joined the MCU with the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and he still remembers his earliest meetings with the Marvel team when he first learned about John Walker. “They showed me a picture of Captain America, and I was like, ‘I’m not your guy,’” the actor recalls. “They were like, ‘No, no, no, he’s this other character.’”

The more Russell learned about the disgraced former soldier, the more he found himself fascinated by the character’s flaws and hubris — something he was eager to explore further in Thunderbolts*. 

“It’s fun to be able to take a character on a ride from ‘I hate this guy so much’ to understanding why he did the things he did,” Russell teases. “I’m hoping in this movie you see him start to realize his cracks a little bit. He is learning how to be a different version of himself, which is fun to play.” 

Bob (Lewis Pullman)

New to the MCU is Bob, a seemingly ordinary man who gets tangled in the Thunderbolts’ chaos. Pullman remains tight-lipped about exactly how Bob fits into the team, but off-screen, he says he quickly bonded with his fellow Marvel stars. 

“It was quite a task,” Pullman says about joining the Marvel universe. “I had some serous imposter syndrome happening. But luckily, it was with a cast that was so welcoming. They were all very reminiscent about what their first time stepping into the MCU was like, and they took me under their wing in a really generous way.”

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* is in theaters now.