Thunderbolts* is the newest movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following a group of anti-heroes forced to work together on a dangerous and deadly mission. The all-star cast includes Florence Pugh (Black Widow), David Harbour (What If…?), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). The movie also reunites director Jake Schreier and writer Joanna Calo, who previously worked together on 2023’s Beef.

Thunderbolts* is poised to set up Avengers: Doomsday, which is set for release in one year, with most of the cast already confirmed to return.

While the movie features an ensemble of characters, Pugh’s Yelena Belova is the clear front(wo)man, appearing in her third Marvel project. It is no secret that the loss of her sister, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, has set her on a dark and lonely path.

“[Yelena] is at such a loss, she doesn’t have any reason to be there anymore. She’s lost her sister. She’s lost her family,” says Pugh. “The relationship with her father is dwindling to nothing, and she’s in such a state and a frame of mind that she is happy to put herself at risk.”

David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, the father of Yelena, is expected to bring the comedic relief fans have come to expect from comic book movies. Harbour says that there is a child-like wonder to bringing this character from page to screen.

“You could argue that his obsession with rekindling his glory comes from a derangement of failure, and yet, he just loves being a superhero,” says Harbour. “There is a portion of me that has a detailed backstory, dark things to it, and there’s also just me as a kid, putting on a supersuit in a Marvel movie. There’s a puppy quality thing, and I do love that the film lets me play that.”

While most of the cast is filled with familiar faces, two newcomers round out the group—Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry/Void, the main antagonist the Thunderbolts are up against, and Geraldine Viswanathan, who portrays Mel, Valentina’s (Louis-Dreyfus) assistant. Viswanathan and Pullman weighed in on the impact of not only Thunderbolts*, but the MCU as a whole.

“I just feel so fortunate to enter the universe in this particular movie, which just feels like such a breath of fresh air, and I think it has that kind of classic Marvel feeling with this kind of emotional nuance and depth,” says Viswanathan.

Mental health is expected to play a big role in Bob’s character, as Pullman explains. “Having so many conversations with Jake [Schreier] and Kevin [Feige] about how to tow this line, of hitting these less discussed topics in larger-scaled films like this in a way that didn’t feel like it was a PSA, but that was very grounded in and has had as much truth from where we were coming from as possible.”

Having lost the title of Captain America at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John Walker has nothing to lose by joining the Thunderbolts team, and Wyatt Russell talks about what this character means to him and what it has brought to him.

“Steve Rogers was the guy who jumped on the grenade for selfless reasons,” says Russell. “Well, John Walker will jump on the grenade so someone will film it and put it on Instagram and make him a national star. And I like playing that version of an American hero who has to get torn down to a point in his life where it’s very basic for all of us. You’ve got to get torn down and hit rock bottom before you can start your journey,” he continues. “You have to just put all your vulnerabilities to the side, don’t ever admit that you’re feeling bad, you don’t ever want to talk to anybody about it, because the second you do, that little crack of vulnerability can destroy you. It’s fun to be able to turn that on its head with the character, I think a lot of those kinds of people will identify with and realize that vulnerability actually makes you stronger.”

Over the past 14 years, Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier has become a fan favorite among MCU fans, and Sebastian Stan talks about the relationship between himself and the character. “I’ve always talked about him like the sibling I’ve never had,” says Stan. “There’s a familiarity with him now that sort of feels like I could just jump in there. But with this, it was special for numerous reasons because the connection felt very real. All of these characters wear their hearts on their sleeve, and they’re trying to do the right thing, and they don’t know if they have the tools or not.”

On paper, this random mish-mash of characters might seem like a desperate attempt to recreate another group of lovable misfits. But Pugh talks about what these characters do for one another. “[Yelena] is so desperate for a community and to let everybody know what it meant to her to have a family,” says Pugh. “We all need to be there for each other. And essentially, that’s how she gets saved.”

Thunderbolts* will be released exclusively in theatres on May 2, 2025.