On a root level, the upcoming Marvel movie Thunderbolts* appears to be the studio’s answer to DC’s The Suicide Squad. We get an ensemble of recognizable villains forced to “play nice together” and complete a mission. But when we look at both versions of Suicide Squad in live-action, we have grown accustomed to seeing members of the team die… usually in horrible fashion. Understandably, Marvel fans already are bracing for members of the Thunderbolts to bite the dust. And while I think that could be the case, I’m not buying the evidence that fans are picking up thanks to the most recent trailer.
We see, in the trailer, different versions of the team throughout the marketing materials for Thunderbolts*, and that has fans speculating. You can almost assume, because of their import to the MCU as a whole, that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) are safe. I even think that Red Guardian is off the board with regard to killing them off, because David Harbour simply is the best. And if you aren’t going to kill him in Black Widow, then you keep him around (and probably give him a Disney+ series somewhere down the road).
So fans are thinking:
Taskmaster is so toast 😭 https://t.co/P3HbgMnyVTNovember 9, 2024
What’s the proof? Well, largely, it’s based on the fact that Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), introduced in the Black Widow movie as well, is noticeable absent in key scenes in the trailer that feature the full team. Like in the back of the limo, when Red Guardian is trying to avoid a convoy. We only see Alexi, Yelena, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell), aka U. S. Agent. No sign of Taskmaster.
And later on in the trailer, we see the Thunderbolts riding up in the elevator of what once was known as Avengers Tower to meet with Valentina (Julie Louis Dreyfus). Only in the elevator, we don’t see Taskmaster.
But then later, she is there.
And that, to me, looks like photoshop to throw off amateur Marvel sleuths. Here’s my best assessment. Taskmaster will be part of the scene that has the villains all coming together for the first time, when they encounter Bob (Lewis Pullman), aka Sentry. This will be the first mission that the villains pick up on, and they’ll realize that they were set up. And they’ll head off to find out who “united” them, bringing them to Valentina.
But Taskmaster won’t be killed. My guess is that Taskmaster simply won’t want to play along. The character likely will ride off into the sunset, free to appear in a future Marvel project and make life miserable for a hero of Kevin Feige’s choosing. It doesn’t feel like it’s in Marvel’s nature to be killing off villains randomly like that. DC tends to be darker, hence the Suicide Squad. I’m willing to bet that Taskmaster exits the movie on her own free will, because she’s anything but a team player.
We will find out when Thunderbolts* kicks off the summer blockbuster season as an upcoming 2025 movie. It’s one of three MCU movies reaching theaters, in addition to all of the shows reaching the Disney+ streaming service, ready to help audiences make their choice Marvel-ous.
