Every Way The MCU Has Already Setup & Teased The Thunderbolts

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been secretly setting up the Thunderbolts since Phase 1. A movie about the Avengers replacement team has been announced to begin production in 2023 and it's based on the popular Marvel Comics about supervillains posing as superheroes. While the MCU's version of the Thunderbolts will be different from the comics, it will likely launch out of the foundation that's been laid in the MCU over the last decade.

Several characters from Marvel Comics' Thunderbolts are already in the MCU. Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) was introduced in Captain America: Civil War and he was prominently featured in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) joined the MCU in Ant-Man and the Wasp while Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) was a villain who was redeemed in Black Widow. Meanwhile, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) debuted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and she's represented by a powerful secret organization looking to recruit superheroes. Thus far, Val has brought former Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell) aboard and renamed him U.S. Agent. Black Widow also revealed that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) works for Valentina. No doubt, more will join their cabal and they could form the crux of the MCU's Thunderbolts.

The full roster of the MCU's Thunderbolts won't be known for some time but the new superteam will continue to be fleshed out as Phase 4 continues. Looking backward, however, many pivotal events in the MCU enabled the rise of both a new team to supplant the Avengers and the unnamed organization that will fund the Thunderbolts. The MCU radically changed between Phases 1 and 4 and this created a void that the Thunderbolts can fill.

Nick Fury's Boast To The World Security Council After The Avengers Beat Loki

When Earth's Mightiest Heroes beat Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Chitauri in The Avengers, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) boasted to the World Security Council about how "dangerous" the superteam he assembled is: "They surely are. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it." The Avengers' victory was a "promise" by Fury and it wasn't lost on the World Security Council. But what can be extrapolated is that the WSC also realized they don't control the Avengers and Fury put together a world-changing response team. Though no direct action was taken by anyone to create their own version of the Avengers at that time in MCU Phase 1, Fury proved the value of such a team and the world played a game of wait-and-see as to what would happen next and how long the Avengers would last.

The Fall Of SHIELD (And Hydra)

Agents of SHIELD Hydra Green Vials Captain America Super Soldier

As a global spy network, SHIELD kept the peace in the MCU for over 50 years. But when Hydra attempted to take over SHIELD, launch Project Insight, and revealed it had been part of the agency since its inception, the MCU was completely destabilized by the fallout. When SHIELD fell in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, other powerful secret organizations around the world like the Ten Rings from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Russia's Red Room, home of the Black Widow program, began asserting themselves. It's possible that the seeds for the clandestine group that Contessa Allegra de Fontaine works for were also planted during the uncertain years after SHIELD collapsed and the Avengers took down Hydra.

Drafting The Sokovia Accords

The Sokovia Accords in Captain America Civil War

The drafting of the Sokovia Accords was a game-changing moment in the MCU and it continues to affect the world in Phase 4. The Sokovia Accords came about because, for all of the Avengers' heroism, they also made some very public mistakes but were not accountable to the government since they were a private organization. The attempt to use the Sokovia Accords to bring the Avengers in line backfired as most of the superheroes ended up rebelling against the new laws of the land.

However, the Sokovia Accords' rules continue to apply to every enhanced individual in MCU Phase 4, and the intent of the governments of the world to have control over superheroes remains. When the Thunderbolts rise, they will also be subject to the Sokovia Accords. And yet, given the influence Valentina de Fontaine claims her employers wield in the government, the Thunderbolts could turn out to be less beholden to the Sokovia Accords than the Avengers were.

The Avengers Civil War And Introduction Of Zemo

Iron Man vs Captain American in Civil War

Helmut Zemo, a Sokovian Baron and intelligence agent, proved that one individual could successfully break apart the world's most powerful superteam. Zemo used the advent of the Sokovia Accords and the tensions within the Avengers to get the superheroes to turn on each other. As a result, most of the Avengers led by Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) were arrested or became fugitives while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) oversaw a drastically limited lineup of Avengers as Iron Man. Zemo sparking the Avengers Civil War publicly exposed the fallacies and vulnerabilities of the Avengers. Lessons must have been learned by the secret organization that is assembling the Thunderbolts and Baron Zemo can guarantee that the Thunderbolts won't repeat the Avengers' mistakes if he's recruited into the team.

Thanos' Snap Wiping Out Half Of Earth's Population

Avengers Infinity War Thanos Snap Gauntlet

The MCU is still charting the aftereffects of Thanos' Snap in Phase 4. The Mad Titan wiping out half of all life in the universe in Avengers: Infinity War forever altered the Earth. The boundaries of nations were rewritten and populations shifted in the five years before Smart Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) resurrected everyone Thanos killed in Avengers: Endgame. In MCU Phase 4, the attempt to return to the pre-Snap status quo sparked political chaos and led to the rise of the Flag-Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

But, as evidenced by how Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp) remade herself into the Power Broker in Madripoor, the turmoil of the five years between Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame created the opportunity for new organizations to establish their own power bases in a world with weakened government controls. This could be when and how Contessa Valentina de Fontaine's employers rose to power and began their own initiative to create the Thunderbolts.

The Avengers' Questionable Status After Endgame

The Avengers assemble in the final battle of Endgame

Whether or not the Avengers are still an active team after Endgame remains an open question in MCU Phase 4. But if there is no Avengers team in a formal sense, then it's a prime opportunity for the Thunderbolts to come along and fill the void. Thus far, MCU Phase 4 has looked back at Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) past in Black Widow, explored Wanda Maxmimoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) grief in WandaVision, created a new Captain America in Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), introduced new heroes like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and the Eternals, and set up the Multiverse in Loki and What If...? But overall, the MCU has been taking its time in answering what really is the state of the Avengers in Phase 4 while also slowly planting the seeds for the Thunderbolts in the margins.

Valentina De Fontaine's Recruitment Drive Continues

Valentina speaking with Yelena and US Agent in the MCU

The recruitment drive Contessa Allegra Valentina de Fontaine is personally heading up in MCU Phase 4 is the most overt setup for the Thunderbolts. Val has at least two enhanced individuals, U.S. Agent John Walker and Yelena Belova, signed up for her new team. It's even possible that Valentina is sending Yelena to target Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) in Hawkeye as part of a scheme to recruit Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). This would make sense since, thus far, Val's team is made up of an ex-Captain America and a former Black Widow. Adding the other archer who calls herself Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, would give Val's team three Avengers analogs since the Thunderbolts are meant to replace the Avengers. It will be interesting to see who else Valentina de Fontaine signs up in Phase 4 after the events of MCU Phases 1-3 made the coming of the Thunderbolts possible.

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