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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThunderbolts* brings together Marvel characters who have been weaponized, disgraced, or pushed outside the traditional Avengers circle. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova leads an uneasy ensemble that includes Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S.Agent, Taskmaster, and the mysterious Bob Reynolds. Here is who plays each character, how the team connects to the MCU, and where the film diverges from Marvel Comics.
Short answer: Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* assembles a team of damaged operatives who are more accustomed to being used, feared, or discarded than celebrated as heroes. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is the emotional center, while Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes provides experience and a hard-earned moral compass. Around them are Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S.Agent, Taskmaster, and the mysterious Bob, all recruited or manipulated by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Calling them Marvel’s “B-team” is understandable, but incomplete. The film’s central question is whether people who were never granted a traditional heroic identity can choose to become a team anyway. Marvel’s current movie presentation also brands the group as The New Avengers, although the official film title remains Thunderbolts*.
Release context: Thunderbolts* was directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo. Marvel lists its theatrical release date as May 2, 2025.
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Thunderbolts* cast at a glance
| Actor | Character | Place on the team |
|---|---|---|
| Florence Pugh | Yelena Belova | Field leader and emotional anchor |
| Sebastian Stan | Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier | Experienced survivor and moral veteran |
| David Harbour | Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian | Super-soldier bruiser and Yelena’s surrogate father |
| Hannah John-Kamen | Ava Starr / Ghost | Stealth and infiltration specialist |
| Wyatt Russell | John Walker / U.S.Agent | Enhanced soldier and aggressive operator |
| Olga Kurylenko | Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster | Combat specialist trained by the Red Room |
| Lewis Pullman | Bob Reynolds / Sentry / the Void | Mysterious outsider with world-changing power |
| Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Valentina Allegra de Fontaine | Recruiter, handler, and political architect |
| Geraldine Viswanathan | Mel | Valentina’s assistant |
| Wendell Pierce | Congressman Gary | Supporting political figure |
| Chris Bauer | Holt | Supporting operative or security-side character |
Who is Yelena Belova?
Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova, a former Red Room assassin and the clearest bridge between Black Widow and Thunderbolts*. She was trained to kill, raised alongside Natasha Romanoff as Natasha’s younger “sister,” and left carrying the consequences of that life.
Natasha’s death still shapes Yelena, but the film does not reduce her to a memorial character or a replacement Black Widow. Yelena is trying to work out who she is when she is no longer defined by the Red Room, Natasha, or somebody else’s mission. That makes her the natural emotional center of this ensemble.
Valentina recruits Yelena as an asset, but Yelena becomes the team member most interested in turning a disposable assignment into a genuine human connection. She is practical in the field, often funny under pressure, and emotionally guarded when Alexei’s neediness or her own grief gets too close to the surface.
Her most important relationships are with Alexei, whose surrogate-father act is both embarrassing and painful, and Bucky, another survivor trying to turn a history of weaponization into responsibility. For readers who want more of Yelena’s comic-book history, Thunderbolts: The Saga of Yelena Belova is a useful companion collection. It is related Marvel reading, not a comic adaptation of the film.
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Who is Bucky Barnes?
Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes, formerly the Winter Soldier. Bucky is the team’s most experienced former assassin and its closest thing to a conscience. Hydra turned him into a weapon, and much of his MCU story has involved confronting the damage caused while he was controlled.
In this film, Bucky is not simply “the other super-soldier.” He is the group’s institutional memory: someone who understands what happens when governments and organizations treat people as equipment. His hard-earned accountability makes the Thunderbolts’ redemption premise personal rather than abstract.
His tension with John Walker is especially important. Both men are enhanced soldiers connected to the Captain America legacy, but they represent very different relationships with guilt, authority, and public approval. Bucky has learned to distrust the institutions that made him; Walker still wants those institutions to validate him.
The movie’s Bucky is not a direct adaptation of a particular comics roster, but there is a clear comics parallel. Bucky has led Thunderbolts teams in Marvel Comics, including the squad collected in Thunderbolts: Winter Soldiers. That book is the strongest reading choice for anyone interested in the Winter Soldier as a team leader.
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David Harbour returns as Alexei Shostakov, also known as Red Guardian. Alexei is the aging Soviet super-soldier who acted as a surrogate father to Natasha and Yelena during the events of Black Widow.
He remains physically formidable, but his biggest problem is emotional rather than tactical. Alexei is boastful, insecure, and desperate to prove that he still matters. His attempts to reclaim his old importance collide with Yelena’s frustration over the family life he failed to provide.
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That relationship supplies much of the film’s comedy, but it is not only comic relief. Alexei’s showmanship covers regret, a fear of irrelevance, and a desire to be forgiven by the daughters he loves. He and Yelena understand one another, even when neither is willing to say what they actually need.
Who is Ghost?
Hannah John-Kamen plays Ava Starr, known as Ghost. Ava previously appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp. A quantum accident left her body unstable, giving her the ability to phase through solid matter while also causing pain and threatening her survival.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Ghost is the team’s infiltration and stealth specialist. Her powers make her an ideal operative for entering secure locations, but her history also fits the film’s wider theme: she is someone institutions tried to contain and use rather than understand.
Ava’s distrust makes her a pragmatic, sometimes isolated teammate. She is not eager to accept the language of heroism from people who have previously treated her as a dangerous problem. Her presence helps keep the group from becoming a simple redemption club; not everyone is ready to trust the people standing beside them.
Who is U.S.Agent?
Wyatt Russell plays John Walker, or U.S.Agent. Walker was appointed as a government replacement for Steve Rogers before losing that status and descending into disgrace. He is militarily trained and physically enhanced, but he is not intended to be a straightforward heroic successor to Captain America.
Walker’s insecurity is central to his character. He believes force and official authority can restore the respect he lost, which makes him a volatile teammate. He is useful in a fight, but his instinct is often to solve uncertainty by asserting control.
His contrast with Bucky gives the film two versions of the super-soldier aftermath. Bucky is trying to accept responsibility without demanding applause. Walker is still trying to prove that he deserves the uniform and the institutional approval attached to it.
Who is Taskmaster?
Olga Kurylenko plays Antonia Dreykov, the MCU’s Taskmaster. Antonia was introduced in Black Widow as a Red Room operative. Her combat ability allows her to reproduce observed fighting techniques, making her one of the team’s most dangerous close-quarters fighters.
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This is the MCU’s version of Taskmaster, not a direct translation of the classic Marvel Comics character. Antonia is a Red Room victim shaped by her father’s control, so her identity and history are tied closely to the film’s themes of conditioning and weaponization.
Spoiler warning: Taskmaster’s position in the group changes early in the story. Readers who have not seen the film should stop here before looking for details about her fate and the team’s final lineup.
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Lewis Pullman plays Bob Reynolds, Sentry, and the Void. For a spoiler-free introduction, Bob is the mysterious outsider brought into a mission otherwise built around grounded operatives and antiheroes.
Once the film’s revelations are known, Bob’s role expands the story from a dangerous extraction mission into a psychological and existential crisis. Sentry represents extraordinary power and the possibility of a new figure capable of filling the space left by the Avengers. The Void represents the destructive darkness connected to Bob’s instability.
Marvel treats Bob, Sentry, and the Void as connected identities or manifestations rather than three unrelated characters. That distinction matters: the team is not merely fighting an external monster. It is confronting the consequences of power, trauma, and a person who cannot safely separate his heroic and destructive selves.
Who is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Val is a CIA director who has appeared across several MCU projects while quietly assembling useful assets for her own agenda.
In Thunderbolts*, Valentina brings together a group of expendable operatives and attempts to turn their success into political power. Her project is not simply to send damaged people on missions; she wants to control the story around them and create a replacement for the Avengers that answers to her institutions.
That makes Val more than a conventional handler. She represents systems that create weapons, exploit vulnerable people, discard them, and then present the resulting violence as public protection. Her scenes with Mel add workplace-comedy energy to an otherwise sinister professional relationship.
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Who is Mel?
Geraldine Viswanathan plays Mel, Valentina’s assistant. Mel is observant, loyal, and positioned close enough to Val to see how the operation works from inside the office.
Marvel’s official film materials do not identify Mel as Songbird. Her name may remind comic readers of Melissa Gold, the character who becomes Songbird, but that is best treated as fan interpretation or a possible unconfirmed Easter egg—not established MCU canon.
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Who are Congressman Gary and Holt?
Wendell Pierce plays Congressman Gary, a supporting political figure connected to the movie’s institutional and public-image concerns. Marvel confirms Pierce’s participation but does not provide a detailed biography for Gary, so it would be misleading to present him as a secret Thunderbolt or assign him a larger role than the available information supports.
Chris Bauer plays Holt. Public cast records identify the character by that name, while Marvel’s official film page confirms Bauer’s involvement without supplying a detailed backstory. The safest description is a supporting operative or security-side character. Holt is not one of the film’s principal Thunderbolts.
How does the team work together?
The team’s chemistry comes from incompatible kinds of damage rather than shared ideals. These characters have been weaponized, abandoned, disgraced, or denied a place in conventional heroic institutions. They do not begin as friends, and the film does not ask the audience to pretend they are secretly Avengers from the opening scene.
- Yelena and Alexei: a surrogate daughter and father who care about each other but bury affection beneath embarrassment, anger, and exaggerated performance.
- Yelena and Bucky: two survivors trying to turn trauma into responsibility instead of allowing it to define their entire identities.
- Bucky and U.S.Agent: opposing models of super-soldier guilt, accountability, authority, and the need for institutional approval.
- Val and Mel: a manipulative boss and an attentive assistant, allowing the film to satirize the ordinary office dynamics behind a dangerous government operation.
- The team and Bob: grounded operatives forced to confront a level of power their usual weapons, training, and tactics cannot contain.
Spoilers: why the team becomes the New Avengers
The following section discusses major plot developments.
Bob’s connection to Sentry and the Void changes the scale of the film. What begins as a mission involving a group of compromised operatives becomes a crisis involving a superhuman force whose destructive side is inseparable from its apparent heroic power.
The team’s importance is therefore not just that each member has a familiar MCU identity. Their shared experience of being controlled or rejected gives them a reason to confront the crisis together. They are not clean replacements for Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, or the rest of the original Avengers. They are a group trying to decide whether their pasts make them permanently dangerous or whether they can accept responsibility for what comes next.
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The asterisk in Thunderbolts* pays off when the group is rebranded as The New Avengers. That identity is a political and public-facing development as much as a heroic one: Valentina wants a replacement Avengers team, while the characters themselves must determine whether the name represents genuine belonging or another institution trying to put a label on them.
Are the movie’s Thunderbolts based on the comics?
Yes, but Thunderbolts* borrows the comics’ central idea rather than adapting one definitive roster. The original comic-book Thunderbolts were villains from the Masters of Evil posing as heroes after the Avengers and Fantastic Four were believed dead. Their defining legacy is the possibility that dangerous people can become genuine heroes, depending on their leadership and mission.
The movie’s lineup is different. It draws heavily from MCU characters introduced in projects such as Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Bucky’s leadership role recalls parts of the comics, but the film should not be described as a direct adaptation of the original team or its classic roster.
Recommended Thunderbolts comics
- Thunderbolts: Winter Soldiers: the best match for readers interested in Bucky leading a renegade Thunderbolts squad.
- Thunderbolts: The Saga of Yelena Belova: a collection focused on Yelena’s comic history, including her connections to Natasha, Red Guardian, and the White Widow identity.
- Thunderbolts Epic Collection: Targeted for Death: a look at the classic 1997-era team and its redemption stories under Hawkeye.
- Thunderbolts: Doomstrike: a more recent Bucky-led comics collection and a useful companion for readers following the post-film comics landscape.
These books are related reading, not novelizations of the movie. They are most useful for tracing the concept’s evolution: villains posing as heroes, damaged operatives seeking redemption, and teams whose leadership determines whether their mission becomes exploitation or genuine change.
How to watch Thunderbolts* at home
Marvel announced a digital release for July 1, 2025, followed by 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 29, 2025. The physical release includes deleted scenes, a gag reel, behind-the-scenes featurettes, filmmaker commentary, and a limited-edition SteelBook version.
For viewers who want the film and its bonus material in a physical format, the Thunderbolts* Blu-ray is the most direct option. Collectors and home-theater viewers may also want to compare the Thunderbolts* 4K UHD release and its limited-edition SteelBook availability. Availability and pricing can vary by country and retailer.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is on the Thunderbolts team in the movie?
The main team includes Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S.Agent, Taskmaster, and Bob Reynolds. Bob is connected to the Sentry and the Void, making him central to the film’s larger conflict.
Who is the main character in Thunderbolts*?
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is the film’s emotional anchor and practical field leader. She is a former Red Room assassin still dealing with Natasha Romanoff’s death, survivor’s guilt, and the search for a purpose beyond being a weapon.
Is Thunderbolts* based on the original Marvel Comics team?
No. The movie uses the Thunderbolts concept and its redemption theme, but its roster is not a direct adaptation of the original comics team. The film’s lineup is made up primarily of characters already established in the MCU.
Why does Thunderbolts have an asterisk in the title?
Marvel’s official film title remains Thunderbolts*, but the asterisk leads to the group’s later public identity as The New Avengers. The movie’s current Marvel presentation also uses that New Avengers branding.
When was Thunderbolts* released on Blu-ray?
Yes. Marvel announced digital availability for July 1, 2025, followed by 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 29, 2025. Bonus material includes deleted scenes, a gag reel, featurettes, and filmmaker commentary.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Thunderbolts* is built around Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, and a roster of MCU survivors who have been treated as weapons or liabilities. Its comics connection is thematic rather than a direct roster adaptation, and its defining payoff is the group’s transformation into The New Avengers.
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