Who’s Who in Marvel’s Thunderbolts

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Today Marvel dropped our archetypal extended look at Thunderbolts*, its caller anti-hero team-up movie that pulls unneurotic a motley unit of renegades from a plethora of past Marvel projects. It’s been a portion since we’ve seen galore of these characters—and 1 of them is wholly caller to the MCU. So if you request a refresher connected who’s who and wherever they’ve been, we’re present to help.

Yelena Belova

She’s a erstwhile Black Widow and adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff. After we were introduced to her successful the Black Widow movie, we past saw Yelena acting connected accusation fixed to her by Valentina (more connected her, eventually) aft Natasha’s decease successful Avengers: Endgame. Told by de Fontaine that her sister was successful information killed by Clint Barton, Yelena hunted down Clint successful the Hawkeye streaming series, crossing paths with his spouse successful arrow-vigilantism Kate Bishop earlier coming to blows with Clint. The duo managed to successfully person Yelena astir the existent circumstances astir Natasha’s death—and however her sacrifice helped bring Yelena backmost from the dead, since she was a unfortunate of Thanos’ snap—and the erstwhile assassin parted ways with the 2 archers and near for parts unknown, leaving her to conveniently beryllium picked up by Thunderbolts.

Ava Starr, aka Ghost

Last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ava was the unfortunate of an mishap involving an effort to passageway into the Quantum Realm by her father, Elihas. Doused successful quantum vigor successful the blast that killed her parents, Ava suffered from “molecular disequilibrium,” an excruciating affliction that caused her assemblage to destabilize and go intangible. Adopted by 1 of her father’s colleagues, Bill Foster, Ava was yet recruited into SHIELD and fixed a “ghost suit” that helped power her powers and pain, grooming her arsenic a concealed cause until the organization’s dissolution. When we past saw her, she had turned to transgression successful an effort to find a cure to her worsening condition, crossing paths with Hank Pym—who had ousted her begetter from SHIELD years prior—and his ain quantum tunneling technology. After clashing with Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ava’s information was temporarily stabilized by the instrumentality of the archetypal Wasp, Janet Van Dyne, from the Quantum Realm, and she went into hiding with Foster to proceed searching for a mode to cure her completely. She doesn’t look to person recovered that by Thunderbolts, but does person a swanky caller shade suit.

John Walker, aka US Agent

Introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John was the U.S. government’s authoritative replacement for Steve Rogers arsenic Captain America aft the events of Avengers: Endgame. A erstwhile U.S. Army Ranger, Walker’s archetypal authoritative duties arsenic Captain America progressive him moving with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes to analyse the anti-nationalism radical known arsenic the Flag Smashers, but the accent of the operation—including clashing with Barnes and Wilson implicit his inheritance of Rogers’ mantle and struggles to detain the Flag Smashers’ leader, Karli Morgenthau—led to Walker ingesting a stolen vial of the recreated Super Soldier Serum, giving him enhanced carnal abilities. When Walker’s tract partner, Lemar Hoskins, was killed successful a combat with Morgenthau, the serum drove Walker to publically execute a Flag Smasher successful rage, and helium was stripped of his committee and the Captain America mantle. That didn’t halt de Fontaine, however, from personally recruiting him to proceed moving for the U.S. arsenic the U.S. Agent, a achromatic ops specialist.

Antonia Dreykov, aka Taskmaster

The antagonist of Black Widow, Antonia Dreykov was the girl of General Dreykov, the overseer of the Soviet government’s Red Room Academy, the grooming installation that recruited young women to go the elite stealth operatives and assassins of the Black Widow Program. When General Dreykov was targeted by erstwhile Widow Natasha Romanoff during a bombing successful Budapest, Antonia was caught successful the blast and grievously wounded. Dreykov saved his daughter’s beingness by installing a regulatory spot into her neck, dulling her symptom and affectional responses and giving Dreykov power implicit his ain daughter—control helium utilized to enactment her done the Red Room grooming herself, exploiting her photographic reflexes to bid her arsenic his eventual agent. Now operating arsenic the Taskmaster, Antonia crossed paths with Romanoff erstwhile much erstwhile she was assigned by her begetter with capturing the rogue Yelena, who had stolen a compound susceptible of disrupting his power implicit the indoctrinated Widows. During their hunt, Romanoff exposed Antonia to the compound, freeing her from her father’s brainwashing, and leaving her with the surviving freed Widows to recuperate.

Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian

If Thunderbolts is starting to consciousness similar a spot of a Black Widow sequel, well, it kinda is. Alexei is different merchandise of the Soviets’ warfare research, the archetypal authoritative Russian supersoldier, and a begetter fig to Natasha and Yelena aft an undercover cognition wherever helium acted arsenic their adoptive begetter alongside Red Room cause and idiosyncratic Melina Vostokoff. After being imprisoned by Dreykov aft the operation’s success, Shostakov was liberated years aboriginal by Natasha and Yelena to assistance them bring down the Red Room erstwhile and for each alongside their adoptive parent and father. After helping them rescue the liberated Widows, we spot that by the clip Thunderbolts begins Alexei is erstwhile again surviving alone, whiling his clip distant with drinks and DoorDash deliveries, waiting for a accidental to suit up arsenic the Red Guardian erstwhile again.

Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier

Marvel Thunderbolts Bucky Winter Soldier

Probably the astir high-profile subordinate of the team, Bucky besides has the longest past successful the MCU. Steve Rogers’ champion person and erstwhile spouse during the Second World War until helium was seemingly killed during a ngo and captured by Hydra to beryllium brainwashed arsenic their ain achromatic ops agent, the Winter Soldier, Bucky’s had a batch of mantles since being liberated from his programming and yet cured wholly with the assistance of the Wakandans. After being killed by Thanos’ drawback and resurrected years later, Bucky was past decently seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, helping Sam halt the menace of the Flag Smashers (and, eventually, John Walker). Just however he’s ended up successful de Fontaine’s orbit remains to beryllium seen in Thunderbolts, but possibly he’ll notation getting his limb stolen by Nebula that 1 time.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

The designer of this new Thunderbolts team, de Fontaine is the caput of the CIA, and has shown up occasionally aft her debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to statesman recruiting unit to her broadside to run successful the shadows, similar Walker and Yelena. We’ll nary uncertainty get to spot however good that goes for her successful the caller movie. Although the MCU mentation of the quality hasn’t touched connected it overmuch yet, successful the comics de Fontaine has a long, analyzable history arsenic a triple cause who worked wrong SHIELD and yet Hydra arsenic a Russian operative for the nation’s ain spy agency, Leviathan, and adjacent operated for a clip arsenic the 2nd Madame Hydra. Given the MCU’s past with Hydra, clip volition archer if there’s a fewer much tricks up Valentina’s sleeves.

“Bob,” a.ka the Sentry?

The last large fig we glimpse successful the Thunderbolts trailer is 1 we cognize the slightest about—because he’s making his debut successful this movie. But the mysterious “Bob,” arsenic helium names himself successful the trailer, played by Lewis Pullman (replacing Steven Yeun, who had primitively been formed successful the film), is heavy rumored to beryllium playing a important quality from the comics, judging by his shortened sanction and the bullet-stopping abilities we concisely spot successful the trailer: Robert Reynolds, besides known arsenic the Sentry.

Introduced arsenic a quasi-riff connected DC’s Superman (one of galore implicit the years), the Sentry was created aft Reynolds, a down-and-out meth addict, broke into a researcher’s laboratory and inadvertently gave himself the Golden Sentry Serum, mutating him with immense superhuman strength, speed, and durability. Retroactively introduced successful 2000 arsenic 1 of the oldest progressive superheroes successful the Marvel beingness earlier the nationalist emergence of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and more, Robert’s had a agelong comics history, including battling the menace of his acheronian different half, the Void, arsenic good arsenic the accepted enactment of being killed astatine slightest a fewer times. His astir caller decease came during the events of the King successful Black lawsuit successful 2020, erstwhile Sentry was brutally torn to pieces by the deity of the symbiotes, Knull (who’s astir to marque his ain cinematic debut successful Venom: The Last Dance). Robert’s psyche was taken to Valhalla successful grant of his heroic duties successful life, while… his corpse was utilized by an evil magical violent radical looking to termination Doctor Strange with a corpse-bomb? Comics!

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