Home Movie News MCU’s Thunderbolts Leader Confirmed By Marvel’s Kevin Feige

Thanks to a new interview, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed which hero will be leading the new Thunderbolts team in the MCU.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed which MCU hero will be taking on the role of leader in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. Comprised of characters who by no means would consider themselves heroes like the Avengers, the Thunderbolts will be a very different and likely darker team who will soon come together in the MCU. As such, it seems as though Marvel Studios has selected the perfect candidate to lead them.

While talking about Thunderbolts in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Feige confirmed the former Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan) will serve as the “de facto leader” of the new team:

“We’ve got a lot of things that start shooting relatively soon. What’s fun about that, and I sort of said this at D23, is that they are barely heroes. 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. But again, it goes to the amazing work that [casting director] Sarah Finn has done across the whole MCU. You’ve got David Harbour and Florence Pugh and these people who are at the top of their game and popping in everything they’re doing. They’re already here and established in the MCU, and we get to build the movie around them.”

Spinning out of his time with Sam Wilson’s Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it looks as though Bucky will be in a brand-new space by taking on this leadership position, though he will likely be supported by Yelena Belova’s White Widow (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour). They’ll also be joined by U.S.Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).

Related: The Winter Soldier Complete MCU Timeline: Bucky’s Story Explained

Bucky Barnes’ Thunderbolts Role Confirmed For MCU Phase 5

Putting Bucky in a leadership role with Thunderbolts should prove to be very interesting. Much of his life was following orders against his will for Hydra as the Winter Soldier. Although The Falcon and the Winter Soldier established Bucky’s healing and growth from that dark past, the role of leadership will likely be something that’s thrust upon him as opposed to something he’d actively seek out.

To that end, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val will likely be the one who officially brings the Thunderbolts together. After all, past MCU chapters have confirmed that Yelena already works for her, as does John Walker’s U.S.Agent. It stands to reason that Val will effectively be the team’s Nick Fury while Bucky will be installed as the team’s leader in the field. Likewise, he probably won’t have a say in the matter.

At any rate, it’s very exciting that the next phase of Bucky Barnes’ story in the MCU has been confirmed. Leading a team has never been something Bucky had to worry about even when he was a hero, seeing as how he always had Steve Rogers’ Captain America to look to and follow. As such, it will be very interesting to see how the former Winter Soldier handles his new role when Marvel’s Thunderbolts releases on July 26th, 2024.

More: Bucky’s New Arm In Thunderbolts Could Help Set Up Wolverine

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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