How do you make Marvel’s next mega team-up movie that ends a phase even more exciting? Adding Steven Yeun sure works. The Oscar-nominated star who rose to fame playing Glenn on The Walking Dead (and was recently seen in Jordan Peele’s Nope) is joining Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts in a mystery role.
According to Deadline, which broke the story, the role “is not only significant to this film but could also play a role going forward in future films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Let the speculation begin.
Set for release July 26, 2024, Thunderbolts will bring a close to Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a team-up film that’ll feature Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. Jake Schreier (Robot and Frank) is directing from a script by Eric Pearson (Black Widow).
“What Jake wants to do with Florence’s character is very interesting and how I factor into how we develop our relationship is very interesting,” Harbour told Gizmodo about the film a few months back. “And then when you see what Jake and Eric Pearson [are] trying to fashion, it’s really clever … So you have this movie that’s, you know, kind of ragtag. It’ll be funny. it’ll be weird, it’ll be action. And then we’re also going to drop a bomb, which is cool.”
Is Yeun that bomb? Because in our eyes, he is in both the “incredibly cool” context of the word as well as the “game-changing addition” version.