Harrison Ford will join the MCU (via /Film) in the role of Thaddeus Ross in the upcoming Thunderbolts film. The Indiana Jones and Blade Runner actor takes on the role previously held by William Hurt, who passed away aged 71 earlier this year. Hurt first appeared in The Incredible Hulk before taking on a prominent role in the franchise with Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow, but the actor passed away in March this year.
Ford will join a wealth of stars who are set to reprise their roles for the Phase 5 closer. The Thunderbolts are a group of supervillains hired for government missions who share similarities to DC’s Suicide Squad. These include Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, last seen alongside Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) at the end of Black Widow.
In The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Fontaine recruited the disgraced John Walker for an unknown project. It transpires Walker and Belova were recruited for the same project. David Harbour and Olga Kurylenko, who played Red Guardian, and Taskmaster in Black Widow, will also be returning for Thunderbolts.
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier will return too, including Hannah John Kamen’s Ava Starr, otherwise known as Ghost, who appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The film is expected to begin filming in early 2023, with Eric Pearson, who penned Black Widow, set to write the script, while Jake Schreier, best known for Paper Towns, directs.
Thunderbolts is expected to arrive in cinemas on July 26, 2024, pending no further delays following Marvel’s recent reshuffle. The next film from the MCU to debut in cinemas will be Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which recently received a new trailer. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives on November 11, 2022. For all future Marvel updates – stay tuned with FlickLuster.