Steven Yeun will not be suiting up for Thunderbolts, the antihero-centric feature in the works from Marvel Studios, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Yeun’s involvement in Thunderbolts was first reported back in February, though Marvel never officially announced the casting. Five months earlier, during a D23 presentation, the studio revealed Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour and Wyatt Russell were among the Marvel mainstays who would be in the film.
Like many tentpoles, Thunderbolts was struck by last year’s dual writers and actors strikes, which put schedules in disarray across Hollywood. Thunderbolts was initially slated for July 2024, but was pushed back a year to July 2025 and has yet to begin filming.
Jake Schreier is directing Thunderbolts, which is rumored to assemble a team of Marvel’s anti-heroes and villains.
Yeun already leads a high-profile comic book property as the voice star of Invincible, Amazon’s adaptation of the Robert Kirkman comic.
He rose to prominence as one of the leads of The Walking Dead and is in the awards season race for his Netflix limited series Beef. He will compete for the Golden Globe for best male actor in a limited series on Sunday, and later this month, will be in contention at the Emmys for actor in a limited series. (As an executive producer of Beef, he also shares an Emmy nom in outstanding or limited series category.) Coming up this year, he has a role in Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 and the Sundance feature Love Me, starring Kristen Stewart.