After years of building up the team in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Thunderbolts* characters are finally getting their due in 2025, and their respective traumas are coming home to roost. While The Multiverse Saga is approaching its end, with the next Avengers movie currently in the works, Phase 5 is coming full circle for a specific group of players in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*. However, the Thunderbolts team is vastly different from the band of characters that fans are used to seeing in the MCU.
As Valentina Allegra de Fontaine takes a bigger spotlight in Thunderbolts*, the Phase 5 finale explores how some of the MCU’s morally grey individuals handle themselves when they are put to the task of having to save the world. Two of the players are John Walker and Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. U.S. Agent and Red Guardian, respectively, with Russell and Harbour reprising their roles from previous MCU projects, but this time as main characters in Thunderbolts*.
ScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier recently caught up with the MCU alums to speak about returning to the franchise for Thunderbolts*, while also getting a chance to expand their characters under a different microscope this time around. Throughout the interview, Russell and Harbour teased how audience members will see different sides of Alexei and John, specifically when it comes to their families and the motivation they draw from loved ones.
David Harbour Reflects On Red Guardian’s Evolution From Black Widow To Thunderbolts*
“What’s Destroyed Both Of Them Is Natasha’s Death, Which They Can’t Process In Their Own Ways”
One of the notes from director Jake Schreier about Alexei and Yelena Belova’s place in the Thunderbolts* story is the emotional ties from the Black Widow movie, which is where fans first got to meet them in the MCU all the way back in Phase 4. When asked how crucial it was for him to honor the fond family dynamic while also allowing the film to show that Alexei has changed quite a lot since Black Widow, Harbour stressed that there is a lot of emphasis on the bond created between his and Florence Pugh’s characters.
“Yeah, it was really important. Showing up, it was one of the things that would be able to ground me in the movie,” Harbour stated while also adding his experience sharing the screen with other MCU talents, “I was very excited to work with Wyatt, Sebastian, and Hannah, but I knew that this relationship with Yelena was going to be the core for him.”
When you lose a central figure in a family, sometimes the family members react in very unique, specific ways.
However, when the Thunderbolts* story picks up with them, it’s rough around the edges, according to Harbour, saying that “When they start out, Alexei’s in a very bad place and [so is], I think, the dynamic between the two of them.” The loss of Natasha is still something that haunts them throughout the Phase 5 movie, “What’s destroyed both of them is Natasha’s death, which they both can’t process in their own ways. When you lose a central figure in a family, sometimes the family members react in very unique, specific ways – and sometimes the family itself falls apart, and that’s what’s happened here. But the needs are still there, and the love is still there, and the emotions are still there.”
For Harbour’s character specifically, “Alexei is haunted by his failure and is obsessed with the idea of some kind of success that won’t ultimately save him,” Harbour shared while adding that “what will save him is some kind of love with his found family and some kind of vulnerability with other people, which he can’t seem to see. So, we start in a very bad place, and he’s quickly confronted with how he needs to change.”
Wyatt Russell Previews U.S. Agent’s Redemption In Thunderbolts*
“I’ve Always Been Celebrated And Loved, And Now People Hate Me.”
When fans first met John in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, his debut escalated quickly into becoming a controversial figure in the world of the MCU after he was initially given the chance to be the next Captain America.
However, Thunderbolts* deals a lot with John’s guilt and struggle of what went down in the Disney+ drama, as Russell spoke heavily about how Thunderbolts* tackles not just evolving a character, but the theme of redemption. “You find John in this place where he’s still hiding everything in bravado. He’s hiding all of his insecurities with this facade of, ‘I am still the best, even though I may have made choices that weren’t Captain America choices.’“
However, as Thunderbolts* mark the chance for another chance at heroism, Russell said that what he found interesting “about going into his shame room, where you see the moment where he’s looking at his family and the things that he’s done, is that it’s a very subtle shame room.” Russell added that “it was originally just a conversation and an argument between the two parents, and as a father, I thought it was very important to have the child there because if you’re not paying attention to your kid because you’re absorbed in your own selfishness?”
While Russell stressed that he doesn’t “think John ever regrets killing somebody because that’s his job. That was what they built him to do,” the Thunderbolts* star teased that “it’s the idea that, “Oh, people don’t like me. I’ve always been celebrated and loved, and now people hate me.” And the shame.”
As Thunderbolts* deal with John “looking at himself being more concerned with himself than he is with just picking up [his] kid, and it’ll magically fix it if you actually can do that,” The Falcon and The Winter Soldier alum thinks “that’s a central theme of the movie. The redemptive arc is, “Listen to other people. Get out of your way. Get out of your own way. Connect with these people. And if you do, by the way, you’re going to find some element of team and a little bit of redemption at the end of it.” And I think it’s fun. We leave them in a place where there’s a lot more for them to do and a lot more places for them to go because it doesn’t fully resolve those aspects of themselves.”
David Harbour & Wyatt Russell Relive Their Avengers: Doomsday Reactions
“I’ll Tell You What It Did Create In Me Was Anxiety”
As Marvel Studios has been building towards the release of the ensemble film, multiple Thunderbolts* cast members are confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, as the Russo brothers are back to direct the crucial Phase 6 installment. When asked about how they each heard about the announcement and whether or not they had a similar reaction to Alexei reacting to being part of a team, Harbour and Russell made it clear it was quite the experience.
“[Laughs] Did you have that reaction? Did you sit there and go, “YEAH!!!”,” Harbour asked Russell, who followed it up with sharing how his “wife was like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “I’m cheering at the back of my own name on my chair. I love myself!””
Harbour continued by saying, “I mean, I’ll tell you what it did create in me was anxiety. Because that chair thing went on for so long, and they paused for 30 minutes,” reflecting on how the Marvel Studios surprise announcement stream continued for hours. Even Russell had to ask “You were like, “Did I get the right information?”
The Stranger Things star agreed, saying that, “Well, yeah, it was like 20 chairs in or something! I was like, “I don’t think I’m going to make it. …Oh no, there it is!”
Russell rounded the conversation out by bringing up how “it brought back PTSD for me. I swear to God. I was like, “Wait a second…” Because I got it afterwards, so I was like, “Where is it?” You’d kind of skip over your name real quick. Like, “Was that my name?”
Thunderbolts* opens in theaters on May 2.
Check out our other Thunderbolts* interviews with:
- Florence Pugh (“Yelena Belova”)
- Lewis Pullman (“Bob”) & Hannah John-Kamen (“Ava Starr”)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Valentina Allegra de Fontaine”) & Geraldine Viswanathan (“Mel”)
- Jake Schreier
- Eric Pearson
Source: ScreenRant Plus
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday
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May 1, 2026
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
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May 7, 2027
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