Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* is a 2025 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the team Thunderbolts. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, and stars an ensemble cast featuring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In the film, a group of antiheroes are caught in a deadly trap and forced to work together on a dangerous mission.

Marvel Studios first teased the formation of a Thunderbolts team within the MCU in 2021. The film was revealed to be in development in June 2022, when Schreier and Pearson were attached. The main cast was revealed in September, with additional casting through early 2023. Lee Sung Jin joined to rewrite the script by March 2023, one of several creatives who returned to work with Schreier from the Netflix series Beef (2023–present). Production was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, causing some cast changes in early 2024. Calo joined by then for further rewrites. Filming took place from February to June 2024 at Trilith Studios and Atlanta Metro Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and also on location in Utah and Kuala Lumpur.

Thunderbolts* premiered on April 22, 2025, at the Empire Leicester Square in London, England, and was released in the United States on May 2, as the final film of Phase Five of the MCU. The film received positive reviews from critics, and has grossed $11.6 million.

In Malaysia, Yelena Belova destroys a laboratory on behalf of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to conceal her involvement with the O.X.E. Group's "Sentry" superhuman project. As de Fontaine faces imminent impeachment for her work with O.X.E. Group, she dispatches Belova, John Walker, Ghost, and Taskmaster to a covert O.X.E facility under the pretense of a mission. Once there, the operatives are pitted against one another in a deadly confrontation where Ghost kills Taskmaster before a mysterious man named Bob unexpectedly appears. Upon learning that they were sent by de Fontaine to be incinerated along with any evidence of her misconduct, they manage to escape from the trap.

De Fontaine learns that the group has survived, including Bob, who was presumed dead during the Sentry trials. When she arrives at the site, Bob creates a diversion by drawing enemy fire without sustaining injury, allowing Belova, Walker and Ghost to escape. Bob then ascends into the air before crash-landing back at the compound, where he is captured and transported to the former Avengers Tower in New York City, now renamed the "Watchtower". Meanwhile, Alexei Shostakov, who had overheard details of de Fontaine's plot while working as a freelance chauffeur, rescues Belova, Walker, and Ghost. Inspired by Belova's childhood soccer team, Shostakov dubs the group the "Thunderbolts".

The Thunderbolts are pursued by de Fontaine's agents before they are ultimately apprehended by Bucky Barnes, who intends to have them testify in the impeachment proceedings. Upon learning that Bob was a subject of one of de Fontaine's top-secret experiments, Barnes joins forces with the group to head to New York to infiltrate the Watchtower. The Thunderbolts discover that de Fontaine has turned Bob into an immensely powerful superhuman known as the Sentry, who easily overpowers the team and forces them to retreat. As the Sentry develops a god-like delusion of superiority, he turns on de Fontaine. However, her assistant, Mel, incapacitates him with a failsafe kill switch. This triggers the emergence of the Sentry's destructive alter ego, the Void, who begins turning everyone in his vicinity into shadows and engulfs New York City in supernatural darkness.

Knowing the only way to stop the Void is from within, Belova enters the shadow realm to reach Bob's consciousness. There, she faces her own haunted past as a Black Widow and finds Bob hiding in a mental construct of his childhood bedroom. They are soon joined by the Thunderbolts, and together, they travel back to the memory of Bob's initial experimentation in Malaysia. The Thunderbolts confront the Void, but are swiftly overpowered. As the struggle threatens to fully consume Bob, the team intervenes, affirming their belief in him. Their solidarity empowers Bob to regain control, overcoming the Void as light and normalcy are returned to the city.

With the threat neutralized, the Thunderbolts prepare to apprehend de Fontaine. However, she manipulates public perception by staging a press conference in which she rebrands them as the New Avengers. In a post-credits scene, the New Avengers and Bob discuss an ongoing problem in outer space when they receive a distress signal revealing an interdimensional spacecraft with a large "4" emblem.

• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova:
  A member of the Thunderbolts who was trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow assassin. Pugh said the character has been affected by the traumatic events of recent Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) projects, including the death of her adoptive sister Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019).
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes:
  An enhanced super soldier with a cybernetic arm who is the de facto leader of the Thunderbolts. Presumed killed in action during World War II, he reemerged in the present day as a brainwashed assassin before his programming was removed, and has since been elected as a member of the United States Congress. Stan compared Barnes to Jack Nicholson's character Randle McMurphy in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), saying they were both coming into a chaotic and degenerate group whose members need to be united.
• Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent:
  An enhanced super soldier and member of the Thunderbolts. He is a former decorated Captain of the U.S. Army Rangers who was chosen by the U.S. government to become Steve Rogers's successor as Captain America before receiving an other than honorable discharge in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
• Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster:
  An assassin with photographic reflexes that allow her to mimic opponents' fighting styles. She was formerly controlled by her father, Dreykov, to complete missions for the Red Room before being freed by Romanoff in the film Black Widow (2021).
• Lewis Pullman as Robert "Bob" Reynolds / Sentry / Void:
  A superpowered individual suffering from amnesia who is believed to be stronger than all of the Avengers combined. As the Void, a version of Sentry completely shrouded in shadows, he is invincible, spreads darkness, and can turn people into shadows.
• Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel: Valentina Allegra de Fontaine's assistant
• Chris Bauer as Holt: A security officer for O.X.E. Group
• Wendell Pierce as Gary: A Congressman
• David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian:
  A member of the Thunderbolts who is the Russian super soldier counterpart to Captain America and a father-figure to Belova. Harbour said the film further explores the complex relationship between Shostakov and Belova that was introduced in Black Widow. He noted that Belova cannot stand Shostakov, but she needs someone to help her feel complete and Shostakov is able to fill that role.
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost:
  A member of the Thunderbolts who can phase through objects. John-Kamen said the film shows a different side of the character following her introduction in the film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), with Ghost no longer in a constant state of molecular disequilibrium and able to control her powers with calmness and decisiveness.
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine:
  A contessa and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who brings together the members of the Thunderbolts. The film establishes de Fontaine as the one who bought Avengers Tower, now referred to as "Watchtower", from Tony Stark in the film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Louis-Dreyfus described de Fontaine as someone who is "after power, control, and just generally she wants to kick ass in the Marvel Universe".

Additionally, Gabrielle Byndloss reprises her role as Walker's wife Olivia from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

During the production of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), director James Gunn expressed interest in making a film based on the Marvel Comics team Thunderbolts, a group of "anti-heroes and super-criminals". Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said this was a possibility based on the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. By May 2021, Gunn was no longer interested in the idea after directing the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad (2021), because that team from DC Comics is based on a similar concept to the Thunderbolts. In June 2018, Hannah John-Kamen expressed enthusiasm for reprising her role as Ava Starr / Ghost from the MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) in a potential Thunderbolts film, considering the comics version of Ghost is a member of the team.

Speculation that a Thunderbolts team would be introduced to the MCU began in mid-2019 following the announcement that Daniel Brühl would appear as Helmut Zemo in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), reprising his role from the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016). That series introduced Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and shows her recruiting Wyatt Russell's John Walker / U.S. Agent. De Fontaine is also shown to be working with Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova in the post-credits scene of the MCU film Black Widow (2021). Commentators speculated that she is recruiting a team of villains or antiheroes like the Thunderbolts, and some felt that team could appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Executive producer Nate Moore said the Thunderbolts were never considered for the project because they would "cloud the story" and take away from other aspects of the series. Head writer Malcolm Spellman said there was "a lot of chatter" around the team's potential introduction to the MCU and added, "I don't know if fans are crazy or not".

By June 2022, Jake Schreier was attached to direct Thunderbolts, from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, with Feige producing. Schreier was hired after a presentation that "blew away" Marvel Studios executives. At that time, the studio had been in contact with actors to discuss their availability to reprise their roles for the film. Commentators suggested that the team could consist of characters such as Zemo, Belova, U.S. Agent, Ghost, Taskmaster, Abomination, Bucky Barnes, or Clint Barton, with de Fontaine or Zemo leading the team. Deadline Hollywood also suggested that Thaddeus Ross could be recast for the film following original actor William Hurt's death in March 2022, since that character has strong ties to the team in the comics. The film was officially announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), with a release date of July 26, 2024. It was set to be the last film in Phase Five of the MCU. Scarlett Johansson, who portrayed Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in the MCU from 2010 to 2021, is credited as an executive producer.

In early September 2022, Justin Kroll of Deadline Hollywood described the film as a spin-off for Belova because she was expected to lead the antihero team, with Pugh, Russell, and Brühl believed to be reprising their roles. At the D23 Expo the same month, Pugh, Russell, John-Kamen, and Louis-Dreyfus were confirmed to star, alongside Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, all reprising their roles from previous MCU projects. Discussing the members of the team, Schreier explained that the creatives had looked through the roster of MCU characters to find "not just bad guys who could be good but characters that exist more on that morally grey plane or who were potentially destined for something else but then something went awry". He had considered including Man-Thing as a member of the team while pitching for the film. The team members stayed consistent from when Pearson began working on the film through the various drafts, with Sentry an early addition to the film as well. Schreier compared the character dynamics to those in the films Reservoir Dogs (1992), Ronin (1998), and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), which are all about a "mis-matched team forced to work together". He also pointed to a less-likely inspiration in the film Toy Story 3 (2010), saying the Thunderbolts members are all facing obsolescence like the Toy Story characters are in that film. Harbour said the film would be unique in the MCU, describing the main cast as "a bunch of misfits and outcasts and losers and people who don't really live up to the super in superhero". Pugh said the joy of uniting these characters was that they "don't play well together". She was set to be paid eight figures for Thunderbolts and another MCU film. With the team largely consistent, Schreier worked in subsequent drafts to "go deeper" with the characters "on the margins" such as Mel and Congressman Gary and "[tying] their arcs together into something that would feel resonant".

At the end of September 2022, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Harrison Ford was Marvel Studios' top choice to replace Hurt as Ross, and Marvel planned to announce his casting at D23 before Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy asked them not to believing it would detract from their promotion of Ford's film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). In mid-October, Sneider reported that Ford had been cast as Ross and would first appear in the MCU in the film Captain America: Brave New World (2025). The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Ford's casting in Brave New World and Thunderbolts, but Variety reported that Ford's involvement would be limited to Brave New World. Writers for Entertainment Weekly and Esquire interpreted later comments made by Feige as confirmation that Ford would not be appearing in Thunderbolts.

Ayo Edebiri joined the cast in January 2023, when Louis-Dreyfus said filming would begin that June. In February, Steven Yeun was cast in a significant role with the potential to continue in future MCU films. Yeun worked with Schreier on the Netflix series Beef (2023–present), and the director had the actor in mind when adding the character. The next month, Beef creator Lee Sung Jin revealed that he was rewriting the script at Schreier's request and said there were "a lot of themes and exciting things" that drew him to the project. He was working closely with Schreier on the script and noted that, unlike Beef, Thunderbolts was Schreier's project and had different writing needs than the series given the film's large scope and scale. The script explores mental health, specifically loneliness and depression, particularly with the character Robert "Bob" Reynolds. Schreier called Beef their "North Star" and explained that Lee felt mental health discussion was "not niche anymore" and it allowed them to "tell a story about that internality and still have a lot of comedy and action for something that feels big and universal". Reynolds' arc was based on the experiences of Schreier's friend. Sneider reported that Pearson's script focused too much on the characters returning from Black Widow, which he also wrote, and Marvel Studios was looking for the other characters to have a more equitable role so it would feel like an ensemble film. Schreier did not believe the film was a Black Widow sequel but rather "a sampling of people from different parts" of the MCU, acknowledging the writers pulled from all of their histories, including Belova and Shostakov's relationship that was established in Black Widow. Grace Yun was set as production designer by April after doing so on Beef, and Sanja Milkovic Hays was the costume designer after working on the MCU films Captain Marvel (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Cinematographer Steve Yedlin was working on the film in Atlanta, Georgia, by the end of May, but eventually left the project and was replaced by Andrew Droz Palermo, who worked on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022).

At the start of May, filming was delayed due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and was planned to resume after the strike concluded. In June, the release date was pushed back to December 20, 2024, and the Utah Film Commission announced that Thunderbolts would film in Emery County and Grand County, Utah, spending over $4.5 million in the state. Executive producer Brian Chapek said the "grounded, globe-trotting film" would use several practical filming locations and the Utah locations were chosen because they felt "untouched by the larger world". When the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike ended in November, the release date was pushed back again, this time to July 25, 2025. Upon returning from the strike, Schreier and the creatives were able to reexamine the script, and determined there was not a sense of "tension and unpredictability" and the film felt "bloodless". To solve this, they decided to rework Taskmaster's involvement in the film, killing the character "early and dry" in the film to have her death "resonate" and inform the fates of the other characters throughout the rest of the film. Having the death occur later in the film was also discussed, but Schreier said the sadness from it would "hang over" the rest of the film and distract from the intended storyline of forming a strong bond between Belova and Robert "Bob" Reynolds / Sentry. Soon after, comic book writer and Yeun's friend Robert Kirkman said Yeun had been cast as Sentry. Russell expressed confidence that the film would be interesting, fun, and not a "straightforward" Marvel film, and said he would begin filming in March or April 2024.

In January 2024, Stan said he would begin filming "in a month or so". Yeun exited then due to a scheduling issue caused by the delayed production, but expressed interest in working on a future MCU film. It was unclear if Marvel would recast or rethink Yeun's role, but at the end of the month Lewis Pullman was revealed to be the studios' top choice to replace Yeun as Robert "Bob" Reynolds / Sentry, and his casting was soon confirmed. Geraldine Viswanathan was cast in the comedic supporting role of de Fontaine's assistant Mel, replacing Edebiri after she exited due to the delays. In February, the release date was moved forward to May 2, 2025, swapping places with the MCU film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Joanna Calo was rewriting the script later that month. Previous drafts centered on the titular team going on a mission that could end with their deaths.

Filming was originally scheduled to begin in mid-June 2023 and last for six months. It was initially not expected to be impacted by the writers' strike, with Marvel Studios reportedly planning to shoot what they could during principal photography and make any necessary writing adjustments during already scheduled reshoots. Filming was ultimately delayed by the writers' strike and subsequent SAG-AFTRA strike. The original filming schedule overlapped with Stan's work on the film The Apprentice (2024), for which he gained weight to portray Donald Trump. He had begun the physical transformation needed to portray Barnes when the strikes began and he had to reverse course. Harbour planned to shoot the film concurrently with his scenes as Jim Hopper for the fifth season of Stranger Things (2025), also in Atlanta; that production was also delayed by the strikes.

Principal photography began by February 26, 2024, at Trilith Studios and Atlanta Metro Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, under the working title Oops All Berries, which is a reference to a variation of the cereal Cap'n Crunch that only has berry-flavored pieces. Andrew Droz Palermo was the cinematographer. The film was shot for IMAX. By March, it had been retitled to Thunderbolts*. Filming occurred in Emery County and Grand County, Utah, from May 29 to June 12, 2024. Louis-Dreyfus completed her scenes by early June, and said Marvel Studios was trying to "go back to their roots" with a focus on the characters' humanity, practical stunt sequences, and avoiding visual effects where possible. Filming also took place at the Medan Pasar square and Merdeka 118 skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pugh was insistent on filming the scene where Belova jumps off the top of Merdeka 118 without the use of stunt doubles. Marvel Studios was initially reluctant to allow Pugh to perform the stunt for insurance reasons, but after continually pushing the matter, including to Feige, she was allowed to perform the jump. Filming concluded the week of June 19.

In September 2024, Chris Bauer and Wendell Pierce were revealed to have been cast in the film, with Bauer playing Holt and Pierce playing Congressman Gary. In early December, additional photography took place in Atlanta. The film's final writing credits were set in March 2025: Pearson was credited for the story and received a screenplay credit alongside Calo, while additional off-screen literary material was attributed to Lee. The film's ending reveals the Thunderbolts to be the New Avengers, with the title screen changing to reveal the film's new title as The New Avengers. Schreier said the film was always going to end with the Thunderbolts revealed as the New Avengers team, and the rest of the film became about "building the right story that lived up to that". Schreier had suggested during his pitch meeting that one of the film's trailers should use an asterisk in the title to imply they needed to "come up with something better"; Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and the marketing team loved this idea and decided to fully embrace it for the title and marketing campaign. This allowed the creatives to realize that having the asterisk could lead to the reveal of a new title for the film once it was released. Thunderbolts* includes a post-credits scene set 14 months after the end of the film where the New Avengers, discussing a problem in outer space, are notified of an interdimensional spacecraft entering Earth-616, which is revealed to be the Fantastic Four's. Schreier said this scene was filmed approximately a month before the film's release on the Avengers: Doomsday (2026) set by that film's directors the Russo brothers and was intended for that film; Schreier was on set when the post-credits scene was filmed.

Harry Yoon and Angela Catanzaro are editing the film; Yoon previously worked on the MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and with Schreier on Beef. Jake Morrison is the visual effects supervisor, with visual effects provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Digital Domain, Rising Sun Pictures, Raynault VFX, Base FX, Crafty Apes, and Mammal Studios.

The band Son Lux began recording the score for Thunderbolts* at Abbey Road Studios in London in the first week of February 2025, after member Ryan Lott previously scored Schreier's film Paper Towns (2015). A soundtrack album featuring their music was released by Hollywood Records and Marvel Music on April 30, 2025.

After filming had begun in March 2024, Pugh and Marvel Studios released a set video in which she showcased her new Black Widow costume and an updated logo for the film with Schreier. The new logo styled the title as "Thunderbolts* ". Kristen Lopez at TheWrap felt viewers would "start deconstructing the brief images she's shown immediately", while Sabina Graves of Gizmodo felt the video was delightful and a fun tease for a scene featuring Belova. She highlighted Pugh's short hair and her joking with Schreier that they "really shouldn't be showing any of this". Collider's Chris McPherson also discussed Pugh's costume, calling it "very military [and] quite tactical", and noted her teal eyeliner. Several commentators questioned why there was an asterisk in the updated logo. The next month, Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts* was the official title and said the use of the asterisk would be explained following the film's release, which led to continued speculation as to its meaning. One theory suggested the team would not be called the Thunderbolts in the film, but rather a variation of the Avengers name such as the Dark Avengers or New Avengers. Another suggestion stated there was another Thunderbolts team in the MCU with characters more closely aligned to the rosters from the comics.

A behind-the-scenes look was shown at CineEurope in June 2024, while the first footage from the film was shown at SDCC the next month, presented by Schreier and the cast. Harbour dressed as Red Guardian for the panel. Following online leaks of the SDCC footage, Marvel released an official look at the Thunderbolts team within their video celebrating the company's 85th anniversary in August. A teaser trailer for the film was released in a month later, featuring the song "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies. Tom Power at TechRadar said the teaser was a longer and higher quality version of the previously leaked footage, and felt the film was "looking very good". He highlighted the characters' struggles with identity as well as the action and tone of the teaser. Writing for The A.V. Club, Mary Kate Carr noted the various mysteries surrounding the film—including the asterisk in its title—and said the teaser "valiantly" refused to give up any secrets or plot details. A second trailer was shown during Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. Commentators stated that the trailer appeared to confirm speculation that the titular team would be fighting the Void, the malevolent alter-ego of Bob / Sentry. In the trailer, Red Guardian expresses hope that the team's achievements would get them featured on the cover of Wheaties, a cereal known for putting sports figures on its boxes and the slogan "The Breakfast of Champions". Alongside the trailer, Marvel Studios released a poster for the film that mimicked a Wheaties box featuring the team. Their social media posts for the poster were captioned "The Breakfast of Champions Thunderbolts*". An asterisk-themed international poster was also released, which included a footnote for the title asterisk which says "The Avengers Are Not Available". Kieran Fisher at /Film questioned whether this was a joke, or if it was the true meaning behind the asterisk in the film's title. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo and Scott Collura from IGN both believed the footnote fit with the film's marketing approach of presenting the team as a ragtag humorous group of heroes, rather than the asterisk being an "actual serious mystery".

In March 2025, Letterboxd debuted a trailer for the film that is edited in the style of those for independent films produced by A24. It features techno music, an "A24-esque makeover" for the Marvel Studios logo, and title cards that highlight past A24 projects that the film's cast and crew members worked on. Schreier helped conceive the trailer, which was released around the same time Pugh described the film as an "indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes". Zosha Millman from Polygon said Marvel had "film buffs in mind" when releasing the trailer through Letterboxd. Despite the creative pedigree touted by the trailer, she thought Thunderbolts* would still be "largely what you expect" of a Marvel film. A24 was not aware of the trailer before its release and responded on social media with a meme from its HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present). Later in March, Marvel Studios announced that many MCU cast members would be reprising their roles for the crossover film Avengers: Doomsday, including Stan, Russell, Pugh, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen. Commentators discussed whether this announcement, which seemingly revealed characters who survive the film's events and aligned with speculation that Taskmaster would die early in the story due to limited presence in trailers, was a spoiler. Michael Walsh at Nerdist criticized the announcement, feeling it had undermined one of the key reasons some people were interested in Thunderbolts*, which was the feeling that any of the main cast could die. He compared this to spoiling who survives the events of The Dirty Dozen (1967), and said Marvel should have excluded the Thunderbolts* cast members from the Doomsday announcement. Amelia Emberwing of IGN said "knowing who makes it out alive [does not matter] much in a comic book franchise" and also felt the announcement was not necessarily a spoiler because the returning actors could be playing versions of their characters from other universes within the multiverse.

Various fan screenings occurred on April 22, 2025, in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Austin. At the end of April, Marvel announced a collaboration with Wheaties to create a limited edition box of the cereal, mimicking the Wheaties-inspired poster for the film.

Thunderbolts* had its European premiere on April 22, 2025, at the Cineworld Leicester Square, London, and its Los Angeles premiere on April 28, 2025. The film was released in the United States on May 2, in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, ScreenX, and 4DX. It was previously scheduled for July 26, 2024, December 20, 2024, and July 25, 2025. It is the final film of Phase Five of the MCU.

In mid-April 2025, Thunderbolts* was projected to have a $63–77 million opening weekend in the United States, with the "target number" expected to be $70 million. By the end of the month, the film was projected to earn $70–75 million domestically and $160–175 million globally on its opening weekend, with some domestic projections going as high as $80–90 million. The film earned $11.6 million from Thursday night previews.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 249 critics gave the film a positive review. The site's critics consensus reads, "Assembling a ragtag band of underdogs with Florence Pugh as their magnetic standout, Thunderbolts* refreshingly goes back to the tried-and-true blueprint of the MCU's best adventures." Metacritic summarized the critical response as "generally favorable", based on a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 from 52 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave the film an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 74% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Writing for NPR, critic Bob Mondello gave Thunderbolts* a generally positive review, calling the film a "a decently effective blend of misfit mercenaries and pop psychology". Jane Coyle of the Associated Press gave it 3/4 stars, writing, "All the assembled parts here, including an especially high-quality cast (even Wendell Pierce!) work together seamlessly in a way that Marvel hasn't in some time. Most of all, Pugh commands every bit of the movie."

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "It's just dollop upon dollop of dourness, all the way to an end-credits scene that has the nerve to tease brighter, less narratively convoluted times ahead. Talk about creating a market." Nicholas Barber of BBC Culture gave Thunderbolts a generally positive review, praising its character-driven approach and Pugh's performance. He noted that the film offers a more grounded and emotionally resonant narrative compared to recent Marvel releases, while still delivering the expected action and humor.

• Official website at Marvel.com
• Thunderbolts* at IMDb