How MCU's Thunderbolts Movie Will Be Different From Suicide Squad

Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie is already on its way to being completely different to DC’s Suicide Squad team. Months after confirming that Thunderbolts in development, Marvel Studios unveiled the cast for the upcoming Phase 5 movie. Now, seven MCU characters are confirmed to make up the roster for the movie, which will hit theaters in 2024.

As The Falcon and the Winter Soldier suggested, the MCU’s Thunderbolts team will be led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, with various heroes, anti-heroes, and villains from previous MCU installments joining her on the team’s first big-screen adventure. Her six known associates in the film are Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). This may or may not be the full lineup, as additional team members – such as Abomination or Baron Zemo – could be announced at later dates. As for what the group will be up against in the film, it’s likely that Val has an important, dangerous mission in mind for her new team.

Regardless of what the plan is for Thunderbolts, Marvel finally has its answer to the Suicide Squad. For a long time now, the Suicide Squad has stood out in the DCEU as a team of villains who run secret operations for the government. Only in the comics does Marvel have a team that’s remotely similar, which would be the Thunderbolts. In 2024, Marvel Studios is poised to formally introduce the group to the MCU. While the essence of the team is sure to create comparisons to the Suicide Squad, it’s worth noting that some key differences have already been established by Marvel’s setup for the movie. Here’s how Thunderbolts will differ from the Suicide Squad movies.

The MCU’s Thunderbolts Aren’t Real Villains

The characters chosen for the Phase 5 film reveals that Marvel’s take on the group aren’t real villains like the Suicide Squad or even the comic book versions of the Thunderbolts. The original Thunderbolts, for instance, were comprised of people like Radioactive Man, Songbird, Beetle, Baron Zemo, and Power Man. Prior to joining, all of the aforementioned characters had reputations as full-fledged villains and didn’t evolve into anti-heroes until later. The same can be said for the majority of the characters associated with the Suicide Squad. One example of this is Bloodshot. While he obviously had redeemable qualities, he was most certainly a true villain at the start of the story, considering that he did try to kill Superman.

As evidenced by its cast, Marvel is heading in a different direction with Thunderbolts. Several of the team’s members have checkered pasts and are guilty of deeds they may not be proud of, but most are heroes now, such is the case with U.S. Agent, Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova, and Red Guardian. The only three members of the Thunderbolts who could ever be classified as villains are Winter Soldier, Taskmaster, and Ghost, but even they don’t fully fit that bill and were actually presented as sympathetic figures. Bucky Barnes was brainwashed, Taskmaster was mind-controlled, and a tragic origin story forced Ghost down the path she took in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Based on each of their MCU movies ended, there isn’t an expectation for any of them to still be villains when Thunderbolts kicks off.

The MCU’s Thunderbolts Aren’t Prisoners

The MCU has already revealed that the premise behind the MCU’s Thunderbolts team is different from what drives the Suicide Squad. In both the movies and the comics, the Suicide Squad consist of captured supervillains recruited for a top-secret government program and used as soldiers to undertake various off-the-books missions. Typically, they do these tasks in exchange for their freedom or at the very least, reduced sentences. Several previous incarnations of the comic team operate under the same pretenses, but that won’t apply to the MCU version. Thunderbolts already has two recruits in the MCU timeline in the form of U.S. Agent and Yelena, and neither are prisoners. Both were walking free when they were sought out by Val.

Based on this setup, it’s likely that instead of being convicts, the Thunderbolts are heroes acting of their own free will. Plus, what the MCU has done with Val hasn’t created the impression that she represents the government in any capacity, which suggests that her team follows her agenda and not that of a world power, which further sets Val’s Thunderbolts apart from Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad.

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier

So far, it looks like the Thunderbolts will be less like recent interpretations of the team and more like one of the earlier versions from Marvel Comics, whether it be Baron Zemo’s team or the one led by Hawkeye in the late 1990s. Originally, Zemo created the team with the intention of setting them up as heroes, and then using their new reputations to pull a massive double-cross on the public. After the Thunderbolts ultimately rejected Zemo’s plans, Hawkeye took over the team and help push them closer to redemption. Considering that the MCU is using characters like Winter Soldier and Taskmaster, redemption is likely to be a key theme in Thunderbolts. It’s important to Suicide Squad as well, but arguably to a lesser degree. Many Suicide Squad members were inspired into action by their desires to obtain their freedom. In other words, they’re not exactly looking to do good in the world. And at least one Thunderbolt – U.S. Agent – joined Val under the impression that he’ll be fighting for his country.

How Will Thunderbolts’ Comedy Compare To The Suicide Squad?

The Suicide Squad Harley Quinn Fan Artwork

The Suicide Squad films, James Gunn’s movie in particular, were essentially R-rated action comedies. The Suicide Squad was filled with graphic violence, crude jokes, and dark humor. Thunderbolts is sure to stand in stark contrast to that approach. The inclusion of Red Guardian shows that the movie will most assuredly have its fair share of humorous moments. Plus, Black Widow and Hawkeye proved that Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova has comedic potential that Marvel can make use of in Thunderbolts. Even so, the movie will most likely offer only PG-13 jokes and rely less on comedy than what’s expected from a Suicide Squad movie. All things considered, Thunderbolts is in a position to create a great deal of distance between itself and DC’s Suicide Squad team, which will help distinguish it as a unique MCU property.