Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier finally has addressed why one founding member of the Thunderbolts team in the comics is not present in the MCU film. At D23 in 2022, Marvel Studios officially confirmed the lineup for the Thunderbolts team, which consisted of characters present in the film who had been introduced in projects like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and even Ant-Man and the Wasp. Yet one name was notably absent, Baron Helmut Zemo, played by Daniel Brühl. Zemo is the founding member of The Thunderbolts in the comics, who originally were a team of villains passing as heroes to the general public.
Speaking with Dexerto, director Jake Schreier acknowledged fans’ disappointment that Baron Zemo is not on the Thunderbolts* roster. Despite The Falcon and the Winter Soldier characters Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and John Walker / U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) returning, it appears that even early on in development, before Schreier signed on to direct, that Brühl’s Zemo was not on the team.

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Schreier also acknowledged fans’ disappointment that the movie is not the traditional origin story for the Thunderbolts*, but said it is approaching the idea of “villains as heroes” with its own unique angle. Scheier said:

“There was no version that I was presented with where that was ever true, from the first draft that I read. There are like a few character shifts since then, but not so much, and Baron Zemo was not in there.I know some corners of the internet are not so happy about that. It’s funny because I know there’s other corners of the internet that wish that this was more that first run of Thunderbolts where it’s, you know, villains masquerading as heroes, and I think our movie is meant, in some ways, to kind of honor that idea, but coming at it from a different angle.”

Is Baron Zemo Hiding in Plain Sight in ‘Thunderbolts*?’

The exclusion of Zemo from the Thunderbolts* team, despite being a founding member, might be disappointing for some, but it isn’t shocking. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has made major changes to teams from the comics when adapting them. The Avengers did not feature Ant-Man or Wasp as founding members, though Joss Whedon did consider Zooey Deschanel for Wasp before Black Widow was decided upon. The Guardians of the Galaxy are more inspired by the 2008 team than the original 1960s comic versions. The Defenders in the Netflix series don’t feature any of the characters from the comic book team; instead, they create a new team that has since been introduced in the comics to match the MCU version better.
However, Zemo might be hiding in plain sight. One popular fan theory that has emerged is that Zemo is secretly in the film, and he is, in fact, under the Taskmaster suit. Taskmaster has been widely missing from much of the film’s promotion, leaving many to believe the character will die early on, as this aligns with reports early on that Thunderbolts* was being rewritten to downplay some connections to Black Widow. While Taskmaster actress Olga Kurylenko is credited in the film, she was notably absent from the film’s world premiere. Many have taken this as a sign that Taskmaster is being used as misdirection and the character will be revealed as Zemo, escaping to cause more havoc for a later project.
Thunderbolts* seemed to be focused on anti-heroes and characters who were seemingly manipulated by systems of power, bonded by trauma, and together would rise to be more than what society saw them as. Zemo’s actions might have been explained, but the MCU has portrayed him as a villain with destructive potential. It is undoubtedly more challenging to make him a hero, particularly one who will face off against Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.

Thunderbolts*

3
/5

Release Date

May 2, 2025

Runtime

126 Minutes

Writers

Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo

Franchise(s)

Marvel Cinematic Universe