The stars of Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts* film have finally addressed their surprise inclusion in the recently announced Avengers: Doomsday cast. During a new interview with Fandango, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared their reactions to the unprecedented five-hour Marvel Studios livestream that revealed the extensive roster for the 2026 superhero blockbuster. The livestream, which methodically revealed 27 actor names via embroidered chairs, confirmed that nearly the entire Thunderbolts* team will return for the next Avengers installment, creating significant narrative connections between the upcoming anti-hero team-up and the Multiverse Saga’s penultimate chapter. The announcement also raises questions about how the morally ambiguous heroes will fit alongside traditional heroes in the battle against Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom.
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“I just couldn’t believe it was going on for so long,” Florence Pugh remarked, expressing amusement at the marathon-length livestream announcement. “I went to make a cup of tea and I was like ‘I can put it down for one second.’ And it was still going. Amazing. Such incredible names. Her co-star David Harbour shared his anxious anticipation during the event. “It would just go on, and it would stop for a while. I was just watching and I was like ‘Ok, I get it, Paul Rudd is in this movie; am I in this movie?’ But yeah, I was excited to see my name come up. It was way towards the end. I was like [makes an anxious face],” Harbour explained, prompting laughter from Pugh.
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“When my name came up, I actually screamed,” Hannah John-Kamen shared. “I was like, ‘Holy molly, this is a very big pinch-me moment.’ Incredible. I’m so honored to be part of it.” Meanwhile, Wyatt Russell took a more casual approach to the announcement. “I don’t have social media,” Russell explained. “So every time I get ‘share on your social channels’, every time I read that I close the email. Because I don’t have anything. So I’m like, ‘Yeah, ok, this doesn’t pertain.’ I got a link to the thing afterward, and I thought it was cool. It was fun to see people that I worked with before. I don’t know if we will work together again, but I’m honored to be a part of it, and it should be a total blast.”
When asked about her notable absence from the Doomsday announcement during the interview, Louis-Dreyfus initially feigned ignorance, asking, “Wait, what are you talking about?” Louis-Dreyfus, whose character Valentina Allegra de Fontaine serves as the architect behind the Thunderbolts initiative in the MCU, then quipped, “I don’t know [why I was not there], but someone is getting fired.” Jokingly channeling Val’s intimidating persona by adding, “I’m changing everybody who works for me. They are all out.”
How Thunderbolts Sets the Stage for Avengers: Doomsday
With Thunderbolts* scheduled to release on May 2nd, more than a year before Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters, the film now takes on additional importance as essential viewing for understanding how these characters will factor into the larger Multiverse Saga narrative. The confirmation of Pugh, Harbour, Russell, and John-Kamen’s appearances in Doomsday suggests that their characters’ development in Thunderbolts* will directly influence their roles in the Avengers film, creating narrative threads that connect these seemingly disparate projects.
Louis-Dreyfus’ omission from the Avengers: Doomsday announcement raises questions about Val’s fate in Thunderbolts*. Another significant omission from the Doomsday cast was Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, the only member of the Thunderbolts* team not confirmed to appear in the Avengers film. This absence has fueled speculation about the characters’ fate in the upcoming anti-hero team-up, potentially signaling that Taskmaster and Val may not survive the events of Thunderbolts*.
The inclusion of Lewis Pullman’s Sentry in both Thunderbolts* and Avengers: Doomsday is particularly noteworthy, given the character’s immense power level in Marvel Comics. Based on promotional material for Thunderbolts*, Sentry appears to be positioned as an antagonistic force that the team must confront. His appearance in Doomsday suggests that either the character undergoes a significant redemptive arc in Thunderbolts* or that his power proves necessary against the threat posed by Doctor Doom.
Avengers: Doomsday has officially begun production and is scheduled for release on May 1, 2026. Before that, Thunderbolts* hist theaters on May 2nd.
How do you think Thunderbolts* will connect to Avengers: Doomsday? Share your theories in the comments!
