Deadline -‘Thunderbolts’: David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell & Others Board Marvel Film – D23

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige introduced the leads for the studio’s upcoming film Thunderbolts at Disney’s D23 Expo Friday, including David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen and Olga Kurylenko.

Harbour, Pugh and Kurylenko are reprising their respective Black Widow roles as Alexei / Red Guardian, Yelena Belova and Black Antonia / Taskmaster, with Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Stan returns to the Marvel fold as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s Bucky Barnes, with his co-star Russell returning as John Walker / U.S. Agent. Then, there’s John-Kamen, who will portray Ava / Ghost.

The Jake Schreier-directed film will close out Phase 5 of the MCU on July 26, 2024. Deadline had previously reported Pugh, Russell and Stan as likely castings. Plot details are scarce, but Thunderbolts revolves around a group of villains who are sent on missions commissioned by the government.

The project, going into production early next year, was first unveiled at Comic-Con in July.

The film understood as the MCU’s version of Suicide Squad is based on characters first introduced to Marvel Comics in 1997. Eric Pearson (Black Widow) is writing the script, with Feige producing.

Phase 5 of the MCU opens with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is slated for release on Feb. 17, 2023. Following the release of Thunderbolts, Phase 6 kicks off with a Fantastic Four film slated for release in theaters on Nov. 8, 2024. Other upcoming titles for Phase 6 include Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, which are respectively slated for release on May 2, 2025 and Nov. 7, 2025.