Marvel's Thunderbolts cast tease stunts and Lewis Pullman's mystery role at Comic-Con panel

Marvel's Thunderbolts movie has officially struck Comic-Con 2024.

Stars Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Hannah John-Kamen, along with director Jake Schreier (Paper Towns), appeared onstage in Hall H on Saturday night during the comic book studio's massive panel to finally reveal details about their long-awaited team-up movie.

Thunderbolts stars Pugh as Yelena Belova, Stan as Bucky Barnes, Harbour as the Red Guardian, Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, John-Kamen as Ghost, Russell as John Walker, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. These characters are all more antiheroes (if not straight-up villains) than superheroes.

Though it was previously rumored that Harrison Ford would carry over his character U.S. President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross from Captain America: Brave New World, the panel made clear that he is not actually in Thunderbolts.

Harbour came out on stage in his Red Guardian outfit and acted offended that no one else wore their costumes. But he had unironic praise for Pugh, as did other costars like Russell. Though Thunderbolts is very much an ensemble, Yelena seems to be the unquestioned star.

"They're all wonderful, but I do have a favorite, and her name is Florence Pugh," Harbour said on stage. "She is just electric to work with. There's complexity in their relationship this time around, and we got to go to all these different levels. He's a terrible narcissist who has a hard time showing up for other people, and she is very dedicated to killing people. It's not a great start to a relationship."

For her part, Pugh said her favorite part of the movie was the stunts. Hall H attendees got a taste of the movie's action in exclusive footage played in the room.

"We all like feeling cool doing stunts," Pugh said, "but I can't claim all the stunts. I like doing my own stunts but I also appreciate that [the stunt crew] makes it look cooler."

The footage also teased the mysterious character played by Lewis Pullman, identified only as "Bob." Seen in a hospital gown, Bob is clearly able to withstand bullets with little difficulty. So who is he? Well, the Top Gun: Maverick star replaced original star Steven Yeun, who left due to scheduling conflicts. Rumors abound that the character is the extremely powerful Marvel superhero known as the Sentry, a.k.a. Robert Reynolds, so "Bob" fits — as does the invulnerability.

The Bear star Ayo Edebiri was also set to star in an undisclosed role, but she also exited due to scheduling conflicts, with Blockers actress Viswanathan stepping in.

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Plot details for the movie have been highly classified for years, but what we do know is that it will feature an unlikely team-up of Marvel antiheroes and (semi)reformed villains when the government recruits them for a dangerous mission. 

"They are barely heroes," Marvel boss Kevin Feige previously said in an interview with EW. "None of them would consider themselves heroes. When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that's sort of all you need to know. That's the trickle-down."

The film's release date was previously pushed due to the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes last year. Thunderbolts is now scheduled to hit theaters on May 2, 2025.