New trailer for Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie unveils official look at Lewis Pullman’s Bob and Yelena Belova’s anti-hero squad after August teaser leak

What are we, some kind of Dark Avengers?

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Potential spoilers follow forThunderbolts.

The first official trailer forMarvel’sThunderboltsmovie has appeared online – and it’s giving me betterCaptain America: The Winter Soldiervibes thanSecret Invasionever did.

Just over one month (at the time of writing) afterThunderbolts' D23 Expo 2024 teaser leaked online, Marvel has seen fit to release a higher quality and longer version of said footage for Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans to pore over. Indeed, the near-three-and-a-half minute long teaser is packed with action, returning fan-favorite (and brand-new!) characters, and plenty of political/paranoid thriller sensibilities. Suffice it to say, the finalMarvel Phase 5film is looking very good from where I’m sitting.

Just like the pirated trailer,Thunderbolts' official teaser opens with Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova visiting her estranged father Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (played byStranger Things' David Harbour) and admitting she feels emotionally unfulfilled. Remember, the last time we saw Yelena – in 2021’sBlack Widowfilm and theHawkeyeTV series – she’d not only lost her sister Natasha Romanov/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) following the events ofAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgame, but also decided against killing Clint Barton inHawkeye.

Belova isn’t the only one struggling with their sense of self. John Walker, who readers may remember fromThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, isn’t in a good place mentally after his reputation was tarnished in thatDisney Plusshow. Elsewhere, we see James ‘Bucky’ Barnes looking a little disillusioned as he enters a court room.

Clearly, this trio – plus Red Guardian and other returning minor villains, including Ghost and Taskmaster – have some issues to iron out. So, what better way for them to do so by being sent on the same covert mission to rescue or eradicate a… mysterious character named Bob? Yep, it seems some the aforementioned individuals are being played off one another by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the Machiavellian individual portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, to track down Bob for reasons unknown.Bob will be played by Lewis Pullman following his casting in Januaryand, without spoilingtoomuch, Bob and his superpowered Sentry alter-ego should play a big role in the plot.

Experience Marvel Studios’ #Thunderbolts* only in theaters May 2025. pic.twitter.com/j9iDjHOoc7September 23, 2024

What makes things even tastier is that these morally complex characters will have to team up at some point. Indeed, the anti-hero squad, which Belova seems to be leading, appears as if it’ll be sent on other infiltration-based missions. Although, judging by the fact that Bucky attacks Belova, Red Guardian, and Walker towards the end of the teaser, it seems the uneasy alliances between them will be temporary for some individuals.

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Thunderbolts' first trailer, not to mention the film itself has been a long time coming.The MCU’s next team-up movie was rumored to be in developmentin June 2022 before Marvel officially announced it a month later. Since then,Thunderboltshas faced numerous setbacks, includingmultiple release date delays due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, thedeparture of cast hires including Steven Yeunand Ayo Edebiri due to schedule conflicts, and the aforementioned teaser leak.

Thankfully, filmingfinally got underway in late March afterThunderboltsrode out its creative storm, with principal photography surprisingly wrapping in June. As mentioned, Marvel exclusively revealed the movie’s first footage to D23 Expo 2024 attendees in mid-August, beforerevealing a first-lookThunderboltsimagelater that month as it battled the D23 trailer leak.

Thunderboltswill arrive in theaters worldwide on May 2, 2025 and, at the time of writing, will be one of threenew moviesfrom Marvel Studios that fans can enjoy next year – the others beingCaptain America: Brave New WorldandThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.

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