Marvel’s Thunderbolts was officially confirmed to be coming this past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, formally putting the rumors and theories to bed about whether or not Marvel Studios would be doing this movie.
This team may have been recently confirmed to be coming, but that doesn’t mean that the team hasn’t already been set up, with projects like Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye setting the team up. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, looks to be the one that will be putting the team together for the upcoming movie.
The biggest and most likely candidates as members of this team are Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Baron Zemo, Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova, U.S. Agent, Taskmaster, Ghost, and Abomination. If you go on social media, these are the characters you will almost always see mentioned as going to be part of the lineup. However, going over these likely members is not what we are trying to do here; instead, we will go over the more unlikely members who still have a possibility of joining the lineup.
No lineup has been confirmed, but these are the 10 unexpected MCU characters that we believe the Contessa could also be scouting out for her Thunderbolts team.
Samuel “The Leader” Stern
Unexpected MCU Characters We Want on the Thunderbolts Squad
The Leader is a Hulk villain that was only seen in his human form all the way back in The Incredible Hulk. This movie was a long time ago, so you’re forgiven if you don’t remember him, but he was a scientist, Samuel Sterns, who assisted Bruce Banner while he was on the run. After Bruce and Betty Ross showed up for help, which the scientist couldn’t provide, a standoff occurred between Bruce and Thaddeus Ross.
Meanwhile, Emil Blonsky forces Sterns to help him, resulting in Blonsky fulling turning into the Abomination, causing an accident in the lab that makes Sterns come into contact with Banner’s blood. While we do end up seeing Samuel Sterns begin to mutate due to the blood, we never see the aftermath, leading us to question what happened to him. It’s clear that the end was meant to set him up as the villain The Leader, a villain he becomes in the comics, but we never got to see that.
This is a thread that has been floating around for basically as long as the MCU has been around, but given that Abomination was in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and is in the upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, maybe we can finally get to see The Leader in action. With Sterns’ old pal Blonsky likely joining the Thunderbolts, why can’t he do the same?
Sharon Carter
Unexpected MCU Characters We Want on the Thunderbolts Squad
Sharon Carter, aka Agent 13, aka The Power Broker, we last saw Sharon in the end-credits scene of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where she was officially pardoned by the U.S. government but still is looking to proceed down her villainous path. Carter ended up becoming a character who is in between anti-hero and full-on villain, something that describes a lot of what the Thunderbolts are about, giving her another reason to show up here. Also, with characters like Winter Soldier, U.S. Agent, and Baron Zemo being likely members of the Thunderbolts, this reestablished relationship that she has with them could make her fit in with the group well.
It is also worth noting that fans tended to not be on board with this shift in Sharon Carter, so a movie like Marvel’s Thunderbolts would not only be an excellent place for her to show up next but could provide a way for Sharon to go on a path towards redemption as well
Batroc the Leaper
Unexpected MCU Characters We Want on the Thunderbolts Squad
This is another character included on this list due to his proximity to the world of Captain America, a world that is likely bringing a lot of characters into the team. We last saw Batroc in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the same place we last saw Sharon, Zemo, and U.S. Agent, where he assisted in the Flag Smashers in the final battle until revealed to truly working with the Power Broker, Sharon.
Sharon decided to turn on Batroc and seemingly killed him, but his death was left open enough that he certainly could later be revealed as surviving the encounter. Batroc would undoubtedly fit in with the team, given his criminal status, and with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine being involved in the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it’s reasonable to think that the French criminal caught her eye.
Trish “Hellcat” Walker
Unexpected MCU Characters We Want on the Thunderbolts Squad
Jessica Jones’ former best friend, Trish Walker, was captured by the private detective after turning into a vengeful killer. Walker became a vigilante and wanted to help her best friend and adoptive sister after seeing all the good Jessica could do with her powers. After her mother’s death, though, Walker became much more vengeful and violent, killing her mother’s killer, after which she decided to escape the country. Jessica was able to take Trish Walker, or Hellcat, down and was convinced by Luke Cage that the best place to send Hellcat was to the Raft.
As far as we know, Hellcat has remained in the Raft ever since the Jessica Jones Season 3 finale, making her an excellent candidate for a member of the Thunderbolts. The Raft is the place where the Thunderbolts might be located, which would mean that Hellcat would have all eyes on her from the Contessa and whoever she works for/with.