Scheduled for Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Thunderbolts* aims to reinvent the Marvel superhero film by injecting a hefty dose of darkness and an independent spirit. Florence Pugh, who plays the heroine, tells us more about this feature film showcasing a team of offbeat anti-heroes during a virtual press conference.
by Violaine Schütz,
The actress Florence Pugh in the movie Thunderbolts* (2025) © Marvel.
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Marvel is going big with an audacious project with a dark aesthetic: Thunderbolts*. Directed by Jake Schreier (who helmed several episodes of the brilliant series Beef), this feature will close Phase Five of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), which began in 2023 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
This phase included several films exploring the multiverse, a concept notably used in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). But Marvel’s new gamble is different. The aim now is to delve into the often dark feelings of flawed, traumatized, yet endearing human beings…
Indeed, in Thunderbolts* , blending action, emotion, and espionage, a team of marginalized anti-heroes, mercenaries, are forced to unite to defeat a tortured soul.
Florence Pugh at the premiere of Thunderbolts in London, April 22, 2025. Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for The Walt Disney Company Limited.
In this new Marvel movie, expected to be as psychological as it is action-packed, the brilliant and moving Florence Pugh portrays the disillusioned, badass, and courageous Yelena Belova, the younger sister of Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson (who is also one of Thunderbolts*‘ producers), working as an assassin for high-ranking figures.
With such an actress, Marvel promises to blend indie cinema spirit with blockbuster spectacle. The 29-year-old British star is equally at home in auteur-driven films (Midsommar, A Good Person) as she is in big productions (Dune: Part Two, Black Widow, Oppenheimer).
Thunderbolts* aims to reflect the spirit of its formidable lead. Florence Pugh told Empire Magazine: “The film ended up becoming a sort of ultra-stylish assassin thriller, like an A24 independent movie, but with Marvel superheroes.”
Florence Pugh performing a stunt in Thunderbolts (2025).
The essence of this new Marvel film is captured in its opening sequence. As Florence Pugh revealed during a virtual press conference attended by Numéro on April 27, 2025, the movie begins with Yelena’s breathtaking jump, symbolizing her mental state.
The actress had to convince producers to let her jump from the second tallest tower in the world: the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This skyscraper stands at 678.9 meters tall. The insurance companies were not exactly thrilled about this Tom Cruise-like stunt.
But it was a brilliant idea worth the investment, according to Florence Pugh. She admitted at the conference: “When I read the script and saw the first page, I thought it was such an impressive and powerful way to start a movie like this. It’s heartbreaking. It really made me understand where Yelena’s mindset was. It felt like she was jumping off a building, almost like a suicide, heightened by the voiceover. It’s not a beautiful image to see, generally. We all associate it with something very bad. So when she actually parachutes down, everyone’s stomach twists.”
“You have to stand atop one of the tallest buildings in the world and pretend it’s not scary and that you want to jump. It was crazy.” Florence Pugh
Unafraid of heights, the actress added: “Then you have to stand on top of one of the tallest buildings in the world and act like it’s not scary and you want to jump off. It was crazy.”
Humble, she clarified: “I just want to say, obviously, none of the stunts would have been possible without the brilliant stunt coordinators who choreographed everything weeks in advance, and the riggers. So even though I like to say I did some of my stunts, there’s a lot of amazing stunt work in the movie that’s not done by me. So, I don’t want to take all the credit.”
But doing dangerous stunts wasn’t the only way Florence Pugh influenced Thunderbolts. She also contributed ideas about her superheroine costumes, emphasizing Yelena’s vulnerable mental state. She explained: “Yelena is so lost at the beginning of the film. She has no reason to be here anymore. She lost her sister and family. Her relationship with her father is broken. She’s in such a state that she’s happy to put herself in danger. So, during the first costume fittings, when I was supposed to don my superhero suit, I said: ‘No, no, no. If she’s asking to be thrown into these deadly missions, she should be wearing something that doesn’t protect her.’ We then discussed her wearing a tracksuit.”
The star added: “We said: ‘Let’s strip away the protective superhero costume with all its buttons and gadgets!’ So even though she’s still doing all these cool stunts, she’s basically going into missions completely ‘naked’. It adds a texture to her desperate wish for someone to end it all for her.”
The trailer for Thunderbolts* (2025).
Alongside Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan reprises his role as Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier), seen in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). David Harbour (the Red Guardian) and Olga Kurylenko, both from Black Widow (2021), also join, alongside Hannah John-Kamen and Wyatt Russell, rounding out this unlikely union of quirky supervillains.
The villains, a genetically modified powerful outcast and a ruthless politician, are portrayed by Lewis Pullman (Lessons in Chemistry, Top Gun: Maverick) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld).
The underlying message of Thunderbolts*? You have to set aside your differences to move forward. It’s a proven cinematic formula: nothing beats losers and outcasts overcoming their differences to become better versions of themselves and, incidentally, save the world.
David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, and Wyatt Russell in the film Thunderbolts (2025) © Courtesy of Marvel.
“Yelena is incredibly strong. She also craves a sense of community. That’s how we met her in Black Widow.” Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh elaborated: “Yelena is incredibly strong. She desires a sense of community. That’s how we met her in Black Widow: she was desperate to show everyone what it meant for her to have a family, real or not. I think we pick up from there. We witness a dispute between a father and his daughter, a moment where they can both say: ‘You made a mistake.’ ‘Well, you did too.’ Growing the character in such a real way really impressed me. I was glad we were allowed to do that.”
The gang in this new Marvel film is somewhat reminiscent of Suicide Squad (2016 and 2021), which depicted a chaotic alliance of DC Comics supervillains led by a stunning Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Yet Thunderbolts* innovates by adding emotional depth to its storyline.
Florence Pugh at the premiere of Thunderbolts* in London, April 22, 2025. Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited.
The film’s trailer hints at explosive entertainment, filled with stunts. While humor remains present, the film also takes a more serious tone, tackling issues like trauma, grief, and depression, reminiscent of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
Florence Pugh commented during the press conference: “I’m happy that we were allowed to show someone who is visibly not okay and doesn’t know how to get better. Yelena says it several times in the film, particularly when she sees her father, Alexei, for the first time. She asks him if she should stay or not. And she doesn’t really get the answer she wants. I think it’s impressive to see a Marvel movie, that will be watched by so many people, deliver such a message: we all must constantly learn, and we must be there for each other. And that’s ultimately how she is saved. She is saved by this new family.”
Florence Pugh at the premiere of Thunderbolts* in London, April 22, 2025. Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited.
“I’m happy that we were allowed to show someone who is visibly not okay and doesn’t know how to get better.” Florence Pugh
The Dune: Part Two actress added: “I was very grateful for the script’s intent to truly depict Yelena’s truth. It’s always scary playing someone whose story has spanned years. It could have been mishandled. Some moments of her healing could have been skipped. But the script really captures how she feels, all the trauma inflicted on her, and what she’s been through.”
After a few disappointments, Marvel seems poised to win back critics by opening a wide conversation about mental health, a subject dear to Gen Z. It’s worth noting that the studio is making a strong comeback in 2025 with three major films: starting February 12 with Captain America: Brave New World, followed by Thunderbolts* on April 30, and later the highly anticipated new Fantastic Four film starring Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear).
Thunderbolts* (2025), directed by Jake Schreier, starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and David Harbour, hits theaters April 30, 2025.
