Although Thunderbolts is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing upcoming Marvel movies, it went through quite a casting shakeup at the beginning of the month. Steven Yeun dropped out due to scheduling issues, and it hasn’t been officially announced yet who will take his place on the Thunderbolts cast. Unofficially, though word’s come in that the Beef star’s replacement has reportedly been found, and if the casting goes through, it should please fans of Top Gun: Maverick.
Originally reported by Daniel Richtman, THR has confirmed that Lewis Pullman is Marvel Studios’ top choice to fill the role left behind by Steven Yeun in Thunderbolts. Pullman’s biggest role to date has arguably been playing Lt. Robert “Bob” Floyd in Top Gun: Maverick, but his other notable credits include movies like Battle of the Sexes, Bad Times at the El Royale and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, as well as the TV shows Catch-22, Outer Range and Lessons in Chemistry. He’s also set to lead the Salem’s Lot remake as Bean Mears, although that Stephen King film adaptation currently doesn’t have a release date.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean that Lewis Pullman is definitely boarding Thunderbolts, only that an offer has been passed along to him, as mentioned in the article. Assuming that Pullman and Marvel work out a deal, though, then it’s expected that the former will have a prominent role in the Marvel movie. That’s because last November, Robert Kirkman, who works with Steven Yeun on Invincible, mentioned that the Mark Grayson voice actor had come back from “a costume fitting for Sentry.”
Boasting a similar power set as Superman, Sentry, a.k.a. Robert Reynolds, is one of Marvel Comics’ most powerful characters. But unlike DC Comics’ Man of Steel, Sentry oftentimes falls into villain territory due to Robert having a darker alternate self called The Void that frequently possesses his mighty body. As such, and assuming this is indeed who Pullman would play instead of Yeun, then Sentry is like to be Thunderbolts’ primary threat, although don’t be surprised if another antagonist is pulling his strings.
Regarding the lineup of protagonists, Thunderbolts will see Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova/Black Widow, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker/U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr/Ghost and Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster joining force on a team spearheaded by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Additionally, Harrison Ford will reprise Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross for the second time following his debut as the character in Captain America: Brave New World (where we may see him become Red Hulk), and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri has reportedly been cast in an undisclosed role.
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts is now set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025. While we wait to officially learn if Lewis Pullman will appear or not, among other updates, remember that you can use your Disney+ subscription to stream the Marvel movies in order and the MCU’s many TV shows.
