Marvel Has Found Their Director for ‘Thunderbolts’
Marvel Studios is moving forward to bring another superhero team to the MCU and the big screen.
Marvel Studios announced Thursday that they will be making a film based on the Thunderbolts comic. In addition, a director has also been selected in Jake Schreier and the screenplay will be penned by Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson.
For those unfamiliar with the team, Thunderbolts is an anti hero team comprised of reformed supervillains. Making their debut in comic form in 1997, they were introduced as new heroes selected to save the world after the Avengers were declared dead when in reality they were the Masters of Evil that could use their powers to gain the trust of the public for their own deeds. Over the years, there have been a large array of characters part of the team including original leader Baron Zemo, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Black Widow to name a few.
Kevin Feige and company are keeping the plot details private as well as what characters will make up the theatrical version of the team. Although it has yet to get close to production, Marvel has been in talks with numerous cast and crew members that have already made a name for themselves in the MCU to keep an opening in their schedule for next summer as that is when filming is supposed to start. Some strong contenders we might see include Daniel Bruhl as Zemo, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier and more.
Schreier landed the directing job based on a pitch that blew Marvel execs away with what he intends to do with the characters. Although not a huge name in filmmaking, the director has done several gigs throughout his career. Starting out as a music video director for Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper, Schreier earned praise for writing and directing the 2012 indie sci-fi comedy Robot and Frank starring Frank Langella. He also helmed the 2015 big screen adaptation of the John Green novel Paper Towns along with episodes of numerous television series.
Like with most Marvel films when they are announced, we don’t have much more information on Thunderbolts outside of Schreier’s hiring. That said, two major events are coming up in the next few months where we may hear more about it including possible casting choices. One being San Diego Comic Con in July and the other is Disney’s bi-annual convention D23 in September. With shooting scheduled next year, more information will definitely be coming out in the coming months for what should be yet another smash hit for Marvel Studios.