Jashandeep Singh
The filming of Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts’ is delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. The shooting of the superhero film was scheduled to commence in June 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, but will now begin only after the strikes conclude. ‘Thunderbolts’ follows a group of anti-heroes and villains from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who are recruited by the government to go on missions. The film is slated to release on December 20, 2024.
Atlanta, where the filming is supposed to take place, has served as a production location for several other Marvel films and television shows. The city has hosted the filming of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ ‘Secret Invasion,’ ‘Loki,’ ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ Apart from Marvel projects, numerous recently-released films such as ‘Haunted Mansion,’ ‘Insidious: The Red Door,’ ‘They Cloned Tyrone,’ ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ and ‘Creed III’ were also shot in Atlanta. In addition to Atlanta, the film is also slated to film in New York and Utah.
‘Thunderbolts’ is set to feature an ensemble cast, with many performers reprising their roles from earlier MCU films and shows. The film stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, the de facto leader of the team. Stan made his MCU debut as Barnes in the 2011 film ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ and his recent appearances are in Disney+’s shows ‘What If…?’ and ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.’ The rest of the cast includes Florence Pugh (‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and ‘Little Women’) as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell (‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ and ‘22 Jump Street’) as John Walker, and David Harbour (‘Stranger Things’) as Alexei Shostakov from ‘Black Widow.’
‘Thunderbolts’ also stars Hannah John-Kamen (‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’) as Ava Starr, Olga Kurylenko (‘Quantum of Solace’) as Antonia Dreykov, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (‘Seinfeld’) as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Acclaimed actor Harrison Ford (‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’) stars as President Thaddeus Ross. The film is being directed by Jake Schreier, who received an Emmy nomination for directing an episode of the Netflix series ‘Beef.’ The director is also known for his works in the films ‘Robot & Frank’ and ‘Paper Towns’.
Schreier talked about ‘Thunderbolts’ in an interview with Collider, revealing that the film is going to offer a different perspective on Marvel characters. “It was just a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that, which I know they’ve made so many things, but it’s not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story, I think, with a very different perspective than maybe people aren’t expecting, and I think that that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on,” said the director.
