The Thunderbolts are about to make their live-action debut in Marvel’s Thunderbolts (2024), but the upcoming MCU film is missing the point of the team. Of the many Avengers replacements introduced in the comics over the decades, the Thunderbolts team has changed quite a lot since its inception. While the Thunderbolts have recently been used as a force for good in the comics, thanks to Luke Cage, they began as a supervillain team-up substitute for the Avengers. That is an aspect that the MCU’s Thunderbolts is already failing to adapt for one big reason.
Although the MCU rarely makes one-on-one adaptations of a comic book arc or storyline, the choice to bring in the Thunderbolts as part of Marvel’s MCU Phase 5 with the Avengers still existing is already a major deviation from the comics. In the comics, the Thunderbolts’ history begins thanks to a power vacuum left by a major Avengers defeat — something that has yet to happen in the MCU. While heroes like Iron Man and Black Widow died in Avengers: Endgame, most of the Avengers of Earth and space are still active. That, however, is not the biggest difference between the MCU’s Thunderbolts and the comic book one. The lineup is also different.
The MCU’s Thunderbolts Team Has More Heroes Than Villains
Though the Thunderbolts’ purpose has changed in the comics over the years, what made the team initially interesting was that it was formed by supervillains who were now trying to replace the Avengers. The original Thunderbolts were born from Baron Zemo’s attempt to put back together his old Masters of Evil, a group he had formed years earlier to destroy the Avengers. The only reason why this new iteration of the Masters of Evil didn’t attack the Avengers is that the Avengers had already been destroyed, leaving a power vacuum for the Thunderbolts. In the MCU, however, the Thunderbolts line-up has more heroes and anti-heroes than villains.
Considering that Val is so far playing a Nick Fury-type of role and that Falcon and The Winter Soldier’s finale began a redemption arc for John Walker, there are only two villains in the Thunderbolts’ MCU movie lineup: Taskmaster and Ghost. If the majority of the team are already morally questionable supersoldiers or reformed highly trained assassins, then there is no impact regarding them coming together as a team of “superheroes.” The Thunderbolts work better when they’re closer to DC’s Suicide Squad – meaning as villains who now have to play good guys to defeat a threat. In the MCU, most of the Thunderbolts have already helped save the day at least once.
Why Thunderbolts Can Still Work (Despite The Comic Book Differences)
The MCU’s Thunderbolts may be quite different from the original Thunderbolts concept, but it can still work. The film’s biggest strength can be the interactions between its characters, as those seven characters were never once together in the same scene. It could be a scenario similar to The Avengers (2012), in which finding the team’s balance with an agreed-upon Thunderbolts’ leader is as important as fighting the big threat. Thunderbolts can also borrow from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with the characters questioning who and what they are fighting for. Last, if Thunderbolts works, then the MCU can expand the team and bring classic supervillains like Zemo or Abomination.
