‘Thunderbolts’ Sets New 2025 Release Date

The Big Picture

• Thunderbolts
  swaps release dates with
  Fantastic Four
  , moving up two months for a May 2025 premiere.
• The film features a star-studded cast including Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, Sebastian Stan, and David Harbour.
• Thunderbolts
  follows a group of anti-heroes brought together by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Following the blockbuster news that Fantastic Four has been cast by Marvel, alongside a release date, it’s now also been confirmed that Thunderbolts, which had been missing from Disney and Marvel’s upcoming 2025 slate, has swapped places with F4 on the calendar, moving up two months for a May 2025 release date. The anti-heroic ensemble movie will now launch on May 2, 2025, while F4 takes the July 25, 2024 slot.

The movie is due to begin shooting imminently, as confirmed by star Florence Pugh who stated she would be leaving the promotional tour for Dune: Part Two shortly to head to Atlanta, where the film is currently in pre-production. The film will also feature Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes alongside David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov aka the Taskmaster reprising their roles from the Black Widow film.

The cast further includes Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Harrison Ford will make an appearance as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who’ll join the MCU in Captain America: Brave New World, where he is set to also take on the form of “Red Hulk”. There were also roles for Ayo Edebiri and Steven Yeun, both of whom were forced to withdraw from the movie due to scheduling conflicts. Edebiri was replaced in her role by Geraldine Viswanathan while Lewis Pullman is reportedly in talks to replace Yeun, supposedly playing the character of Sentry.

What Is ‘Thunderbolts’ About and Who’s Directing the Movie?

The movie follows a group of “anti-heroes” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, brought together by Louis-Dreyfus‘ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine — or Val — a slightly shadier version of Nick Fury, who will force the characters to work together to avert a threat. Director Jake Schreier admitted he was thrilled to take on the story and do something new within the MCU.

“It was just a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that, which I know they’ve made so many things, but it’s not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story, I think, with a very different perspective than maybe people aren’t expecting, and I think that that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on.”

Thunderbolts will premiere worldwide on May 2, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for further details.