Stranger Things star David Harbour teases surprising character development for his return as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's upcoming Thunderbolts film. Harbour made his first and so far only appearance in the MCU as Red Guardian in 2021's Black Widow, where his character acted as a flawed father-figure towards Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff and Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova. Although Black Widow kicks off Phase 4 of the MCU, the events and conclusion of the film take place well before the end of Phase 3, and therefore at this current point in the MCU, viewers do not yet know where Red Guardian has been since his last appearance.

In a recent interview with Total Film (via GamesRadar+), Harbour discusses his upcoming appearance in Thunderbolts, teasing the development his character will go through in the MCU. He hints that there are ways to continue the character's story and develop him in a way that would be surprising. Check out the full quote below:

"I do. I love Red Guardian. I can’t wait to pull back the layers. The great thing about him is that he’s not very well-defined in the comics, like some of the other Marvel superheroes. So we can play with him in a different way, and be surprising and unexpected."

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How Thunderbolts Can Build Upon Red Guardian's Black Widow Story

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Harbour's comments appear to mean that Red Guardian's subsequent appearances in the MCU will attempt to show more layers to the character, and that he intends to play him in a way that would be more unexpected. He highlights the fact that the comics version of Red Guardian is less defined and therefore does not provide as many guidelines on how the character should be compared to other Marvel characters, which gives Harbour and the writers more room to bring something new with his portrayal. These comments are interesting when looking at where Red Guardian was left at the end of Black Widow, as the character spent much of the film behaving in a comedic but delusional manner. However, by the final act, the character seemingly wants to make up for how he has been in the past, and Harbour's words now seem to confirm that this is the direction Marvel plans to take him in.

Based on the Thunderbolts team in the comics and the current roster announced for the film, it appears that the story will at least somewhat lean into the idea of characters looking for either a new path or redemption. Although Black Widow's ending teased this as the logical continuation of Red Guardian's character arc, it would be interesting to see how far Thunderbolts or other MCU projects explore the character's depth. With his character being heavily utilized as comedic relief in the previous film, and the MCU's tendency to relegate certain characters into that role, it may be hard to picture Red Guardian receiving compelling character development going forward, especially without his relationship with Natasha to help ground him. That being said, with Yelena also appearing in Thunderbolts, there will likely be other opportunities to explore the relationship between those two characters and understand more about them as a result.

It remains to be seen what role Red Guardian will play in Thunderbolts, but audiences can hope that the film and the rest of the MCU continues to flesh his character out in a meaningful way. Based on the character's backstory and his state at the beginning of Black Widow, there is definitely more to him than what audiences have seen so far, and with Harbour's ability as a dramatic actor, it would be a shame not to explore it. However, it appears that Marvel fans have yet to fully see behind the layers of what the MCU has planned for Red Guardian, and it will surely be exciting once they finally do.

Next: Who Are MCU's Thunderbolts? Team Members, Origin & Comic History Explained

Source: Total Film (via GamesRadar+)

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