While James Gunn has been set-out to make multiple Guardians of The Galaxy films, he once mused about the idea of adapting Marvel Comics supervillain team Thunderbolts for the big screen. The group is essentially Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad and various members have been introduced over the years to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When Gunn was fired from the third Guardians movie he met with Warner Bros. and led to him writing/directing their sequel The Suicide Squad. During a Q&A session on his Instagram stories, James reaffirmed to a fan that he isn’t looking to make a Thunderbolts movie for Marvel Studios and that The Suicide Squad “scratched that itch.”
This doesn’t mean that Marvel Studios won’t pursue a Thunderbolts project just because Gunn isn’t stepping away from his original idea of adapting the team. As previously mentioned, Marvel seems to be aiming to leave the door open for them to be assembled at some point as Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo ended-up in Thunderbolt Ross’ super-prison The Raft by the final episode of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier series.
Other folks that might be part of the roster could include Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross aka Red Hulk, Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky aka Abomination, and the newly added John Walker aka U.S. Agent played by Wyatt Russell. Black Widow’s Yelena Belova and Taskmaster could also be contenders depending on the outcome of that film.
It’ll be interesting to see if Marvel if we’ll see the Thunderbolts introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Captain America 4. I’m also curious if the MCU version could combine Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts into one streamlined group.
Gunn has said that Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is going to be end of his journey but isn’t ready to say he’s closing the door on making another Guardians project down the line.
SOURCE: JAMES GUNN
THE RONIN 