Thunderbolts* has promised a new take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s formula—17 years after the franchise kicked off. The film features a cast of former villains and antiheroes, such as Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, among others. As a result, it departs from the usual tone of MCU movies with a chaotic, morally grey cast.

According to its director, Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* plays on the familiar in terms of paying homage to previous superhero films while very much doing its own thing. The director recently caught up with Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier, during which he explained:

ScreenRant: I love that these ragtag characters form an ensemble to overcome something bigger than themselves, which we’ve seen in Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. You kind of mirror that iconic “Avengers ᴀssemble” moment, but you do it in your own twisted Thunderbolts way. What conversations went into creating that sequence?

Jake Schreier: It’s funny, when I first came onto the movie, Kevin said, “Make it different. Do something different with this one.” He wanted to really embrace how I brought in these references from Being John Malkovich and Michel Gondry stuff, and he loved all that stuff. But I was like, “We do need this big street sequence…” It almost is kind of a wink at a very traditional superhero ground level. Alexei even refers to it in the beginning, and that was something Joanna Calo added that was so smart, of saving civilians in the streets, like this dream he has.

I think at some point, Kevin was like, “Do we have to do this crane thing? We’ve done a lot of falling cranes. There’s been a bunch of that.” I was like, “No, we have to do the crane.” We need to show people that we had that level of scope at our fingertips, so that when we make these choices to go into smaller places and more internal, practical sets and transitions, it’s clear that it was a choice and not that we were operating on a lower level of scale.

That whole sequence, and all of the action in it – and it was very fun to do – really exists just for that one moment of surprise, and the twist at the end of it, where it goes in a very different direction. It’s fun to watch that happen.

What Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* Comments Mean

Thunderbolts* Has A Style All Its Own

When creating a new entry in an established franchise, it’s important to keep both tone and scale in mind. Schreier used callbacks to previous MCU films both to place the Thunderbolts* firmly in its universe and to distinguish it from what came before. Schreier also explained that this idea of taking the familiar and putting a new spin on it applied to the characters as well as the style of the film. For example, Bucky is one of the longest-running MCU characters, but Thunderbolts* still sees him in a new sort of arc.

The director stated: “The challenge there was really like, ‘What is a new arc that we can take Bucky on?’ This idea of watching him try to uncomfortably fit and embracing a new path, and wondering if there’s some new path to helping the world. Having done all of this stuff and having been in so many of these movies, there’s a kind of meta angle to it.” Given his statements regarding both the writing and directing of Thunderbolts*, it seems Schreier wanted to play on audience expectations to make a distinctive film.

Our Take On Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* Comments

After Almost 20 Years, Thunderbolts* Aims To Bring Something Fresh To The MCU

The MCU has existed for a long time. As a result, the franchise has experimented with a variety of styles and genres. Taking a unique approach is a challenge; however, Thunderbolts* taking MCU tropes and subverting them makes sense for what the movie aims to be. This team is the anti-Avengers. Its members aren’t heroes—they’re misfits. Most of them are antagonists from past Marvel films, and those who aren’t still don’t fit into the same heroic mold as, say, Steve Rogers.

With that in mind, Schreier’s choice to both embrace and eschew the typical MCU style suits how Thunderbolts* isn’t a traditional superhero team-up film. Treating the project as a dark echo of The Avengers with a character focus might just be the unique approach needed.

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