Wyatt Russell, known for his role as U.S. Agent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is determined to prove skeptics wrong about the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Russell shared that he and his co-stars are motivated to challenge any preconceived notions that might discourage audiences from seeing the film. He credits his background in ice hockey for giving him the resilience to tackle such a project.
"We came to this as a group of people who were like, 'Let’s make this our own thing, let’s make it great and let’s make people put their foot in their mouths,'" Russell stated. He further emphasized his drive, saying, "I have a little bit of an athletic background, so I was like, 'Yeah, I want to make you eat your words if you’re like, this movie’s going to blow, I don’t want to go see it.'"
Russell pointed out that Thunderbolts presents a unique challenge because it doesn't follow the traditional superhero movie formula. Unlike the Avengers, who had their own origin stories leading into their team-up films, the characters in Thunderbolts are not as widely established. "There are no characters in this film, really, that have their own stuff in the Marvel universe that much," he explained.
The cast of Thunderbolts includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, Lewis Pullman as Bob/Sentry/Void, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, and Wyatt Russell himself as John Walker/U.S. Agent. Russell highlighted the diverse career paths of his co-stars, noting that many of them had established themselves in different fields before joining Marvel.
"It’s not Captain America, it’s not Thor, it’s not Iron Man, it’s not the Avengers. [Thunderbolts] is more of these misfit types. And that challenge that Kevin Feige gave Jake [Schreier] and this particular group of actors, it was like, 'Hell yeah,'" Russell remarked. He also noted that many of the actors, including himself, David Harbour, and Sebastian Stan, had varied careers before becoming part of the MCU.
The Thunderbolts: The Tumultuous History of Marvel's Twisted Super-Team
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Earlier this month, Sebastian Stan shared his career struggles before landing the role of the Winter Soldier in the MCU. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Stan revealed that he was "saved" by a $65,000 residuals payment from his role in Hot Tub Time Machine. This financial cushion came just before he played James "Bucky" Barnes in the original Captain America movie. Stan portrayed the antagonist Blaine in the 2010 sci-fi comedy and subsequently starred alongside Chris Evans in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
"I was actually struggling with work," Stan admitted. "I had just gotten off the phone with my business manager, who told me I was saved by $65,000 that came in residuals from Hot Tub Time Machine."
Stan has since reprised his role as Bucky Barnes in several films, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), multiple Avengers movies, and this year's Captain America: Brave New World. He is set to return as the superhero in the upcoming Thunderbolts film. Additionally, Stan's name was included in Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal, indicating that Bucky and other members of the Thunderbolts, including John Walker, will continue to play significant roles in the MCU.
