A team of anti-heroes and former or even current supervillains who must work together to complete a mission for the United States government. Sound familiar? That’s the core premise behind DC Comics’ Suicide Squad, which has been spotlighted in two theatrical movies, and it also lines up nicely with Thunderbolts*, the next of the upcoming Marvel movies. However, if you ask Sebastian Stan, who’s reprising Bucky Barnes in this 2025 movie release, we shouldn’t be comparing the MCU’s Thunderbolts to the Suicide Squad.
Instead, Stan mentioned two other movies that he feels are more fitting to compare to Thunderbolts* given what we can expect to see from him and the other main characters. As he told BAFTA:
I mean, I kind of think of it more as like The Breakfast Club. Or this movie I love, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s just an odd bunch of people that hopefully won’t kill each other in the process and have to figure out a way to kind of work together. And it was just incredible fun. I mean, everybody’s super sweet, and it’s really funny and touching, and it actually deals with acceptance and owning yourself. Which is something my character’s dealt with for many years at this point. So I’m excited for people to see it.
This isn’t the first time Sebastian Stan has mentioned The Breakfast Club while talking about Thunderbolts*, as he felt the team chemistry between himself and co-stars like Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was “a little bit like” the 1985 John Hughes movie. Then There’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, one of Jack Nicholson’s best movies. That’s definitely a more intense cinematic experience compared to The Breakfast Club, but I see what Stan is getting at when highlighting how Thunderbolts* also has these conflicting personalities that get rather violent with each other before needing to put aside their differences.
I’m guessing we can also expect Thunderbolts* to have a more upbeat ending than One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest since this is still a (presumably) PG-13-rated superhero movie. That’s not to say there won’t be casualties along the way, as I already suspect that Taskmaster will be killed off. The important thing, though, is that while the Suicide Squad might be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Thunderbolts*, you’d be better off thinking of the two movies Stan mentioned to get a better grasp on the MCU movie’s overall vibe.
Following his surprise appearance in Captain America: Brave New World, Bucky Barnes will return in Thunderbolts* to work with Yelena Belova, John Walker/U.S. Agent, Alexei Shostakove/Red Guardian, Ava Starr/Ghost andAntonia Dreykov/Taskmaster on a mission these characters are forced into by Julia Louis Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo, the movie comes out on May 2.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
