The Marvel Cinematic Universe may be dedicating much of Phase 5 to building up Thunderbolts, but one of the franchise's earlier films hinted at the upcoming team of antiheroes over a decade ago. Beginning with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Phase 5 is an essential piece in the Multiverse Saga, making Marvel Studios' choice to use Thunderbolts as its finale all the more intriguing. It is, therefore, inevitable that the Thunderbolts will play a massive role in the unfolding future of the MCU, but the team isn't as new as the franchise makes it seem. In fact, the seeds for the Thunderbolts were laid as early as Phase 2.
The Thunderbolts are a misfit team of Marvel's greatest antiheroes and reformed villains who will finally make their MCU debut in 2024 as the finale to Phase 5. So far, Marvel Studios has confirmed six members of the team's debut lineup, including Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova, (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Although little is yet known about the team itself, including why exactly it was formed, Marvel has heavily indicated that its exploits will play a massive role in the future of the MCU, perhaps even beyond the Multiverse Saga.

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