'Thunderbolts*' Director Jake Schreier Shares Secrets From Set

Every good team needs a leader. For Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, that guiding force is director Jake Schreier, who helped shepherd the film’s unexpected band of oddballs to the big screen. The result? A clever, darkly comic tale that’s part emotional character study, part jaw-dropping stunt spectacular. 

“He was so the right person to hire for this very ambitious movie,” explains Geraldine Viswanathan, who stars as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s assistant, Mel. “He’s so brilliant, and he really brought his arthouse film sensibilities to a movie that is so focused on character development and the emotional nuance of the story. The movie is so much richer for that. His visual flair is so impressive, and he also really cares.”

Sitting down with Marvel.com ahead of the Thunderbolts* red-carpet premiere, Schreier opened up about bringing Marvel’s least-anticipated band of misfits to life. The film assembles a ragtag crew from different corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). All of these off-kilter antiheroes come with their own baggage and history, but Schreier wanted to unite them in a grounded, emotional story, marrying Super Hero spectacle with introspective character moments.

“What really surprised me is the amount of freedom there was,” he says of joining the MCU. “Kevin [Feige] really said from the beginning, ‘Do something different with this one.’ When we were out there on set, it was just us making a movie with these great actors. It didn’t feel like there was any micromanagement. It was just collaboration and trying to make the best thing.”

Early on, Schreier decided to embrace as many practical, in-camera action scenes as possible. That meant orchestrating some of the MCU’s most impressive stunts to date — like the scene where Pugh’s Yelena leaps off of the second tallest building in the world, the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Pugh executed the stunt herself.) Another highlight was the very first day of shooting, where Yelena, John, Ghost, and Taskmaster have a violent confrontation in an underground vault.

“That was the very first thing we filmed,” Schreier remembers. “We got shut down by the strike[s], so that giant set had been sitting there for a year, waiting to be shot, and the floors were creaky. Everywhere you moved, it would squeak and creak… It really felt like being thrown into the deep end right off the bat.”

Over the course of his career, Schreier has assembled an impressive resume, directing films like 2015’s Paper Towns and the 2023 series Beef. But Thunderbolts* is his most ambitious project to date. When he first signed on to direct the film, he turned to an old friend for advice: his one-time college roommate Jon Watts, who helmed Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy. Watts encouraged him to enjoy the ride — and to always aim high.

“I knew the one thing about Marvel is that you can never say that you’re done,” Schreier explains. “You come into these meetings, and Kevin [Feige] is always going to say, ‘It’s good. Some things we can make better. Let’s talk about how to improve it.’ You always have to meet that with your own ideas of how to make it better. You should never rest where you are.”

While shooting, Schreier quickly became known for his steady presence and his sharp suits, often wearing a tie to set. (“He had a lot of suitcases,” Viswanathan says. “And a lot of style!” adds Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who reprises her role as the scheming Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.) Even on days where Schreier was juggling complicated stunts or elaborate special effects, his cast members say that he always kept his cool — to the point where they teased him about his eternally understated demeanor.

“You can never tell if Jake likes something or hates something, ever!” exclaims Wyatt Russell, who previously worked with Schreier on the TV series Lodge 49. “You don’t really know how he truly feels because he doesn’t know how he truly feels until it’s all cut together. I love Jake more than anything; he’s a great friend of mine. But he’s very stoic. He’ll give you a good giggle if he thinks something is funny, but he’s not going to burst out laughing.”

“There were a few times where after [a scene], I went up to him and was like, ‘Jake! That was so awesome!’” Sebastian Stan remembers. “And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘My God, do I have to do it again?!’” (With a laugh, Schreier admits that he is “not the most effusive person that anyone has ever met.”)

Still, there was at least one day on the Thunderbolts* set where the director couldn’t help but get emotional.

“I remember when we shot in the desert with a helicopter, and this lens flare happened at the right time,” Viswanathan recalls. “He shed a tear because he was just so happy that it all worked out and came together.”

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* is in theaters May 2.