Thunderbolts* is a movie with a lot of Black Widow energy. None of the features released since the end of Phase 3 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a direct sequel, but it's hard not to notice that four of the stars from director Cate Shortland's 2021 film play key roles in the latest MCU blockbuster. On a broader level, it's not a Black Widow sequel, as it incorporates characters from multiple sectors of the canon to tell its story, but director Jake Schreier has highlighted the importance of honoring the relationships in that franchise chapter.
With Thunderbolts* soon set to arrive in theaters (specifically this Friday), the filmmaker was careful about spoilers during a recent interview with our sister site SFX Magazine, but he explained how the upcoming Marvel movie handled key established relationships from Black Widow – specifically the existing father/daughter-esque bond between Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and David Harbour's Alexei Shostakov a.k.a Red Guardian. Said the Schreier,
Without giving away too much, a lot of what David [Harbour] and Florence [Pugh] are working with as material in this movie relates to that past relationship. And there's resonance to that, so I think it's important to everyone to preserve that legacy of something that emotionally meant so much to people, and make sure that we refer to that in the right way, and we protect it and make sure that it means something.
Black Widow is principally set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, but it also provides some key backstory for Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff – including the fact that she grew up with Yelena as a "sister" and Alexei as a "father." Their family wasn't real, as they were merely spies planted in the United States by the Russians, but the relationships they formed were real.
Yelena Belova and Alexei Shstakov are just two of the characters from Black Widow in Thunderbolts*, however. The movie will also feature the return of Olga Kurylenko's Antonia Dreykov a.k.a. Taskmaster, and fans will remember that it was in the Black Widow end credits sequence that Julia Louis-Dreyfus made her feature film debut as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (she made her official MCU debut in the Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier).
Because Thunderbolts* is a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, it will obviously reach back into established canon – titles like Black Widow – in building its story, but Jake Schreier says that the pieces are coming together to create something new and not dependent on any specific previous chapter:
I think we're pulling from all of their histories and then trying to tell something new. I don't think that it feels like a Black Widow sequel. I think it feels like it's a sampling of people from different parts [of this universe]. It's definitely a part of our story but it's not the driving force that leads into this film.
Thunderbolts* sports an awesome ensemble that includes Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Hannah John-Kamen in addition to the aforementioned Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and the wait for it to arrive in theaters is almost over. As noted earlier, the new Marvel movie will be in theaters this Friday May 2 – and you can be sure that we'll have plenty of coverage of the release for you in the coming days and months here on CinemaBlend.
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