Marvel Studios’ new movie ‘Thunderbolts*’ releases in May of 2025. It follows the story of a black-ops team run by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
The first trailer is out today, and gives us a closer at the team which consists of Black Widow, Red Guardian, Taskmaster, Bucky Barnes, U.S. Agent, and Ghost. Here’s every character explained.
Yelena Belova (Black Widow)
Yelena Belova first appeared in the 2021 film ‘Black Widow’, released on Disney+. She is the adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff. It’s revealed that they were both trained and brainwashed by General Dreykov in the Red Room to be assassins in their youth, before Romanoff escaped and joined The Avengers. Most of the film takes place in 2016 and shows Belova and Romanoff reuniting to defeat the Red Room and liberate the Black Widows. In 2019, Belova vanished after Thanos’ snap, and reappeared in 2025 post-blip. She appeared in the ‘Hawkeye’ series on Disney+ where she attacked Clint Barton. She’d been falsely informed that Barton killed Romanoff, despite her actually sacrificing herself to save the world. After making amends with Barton and Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye, she disappeared. Thunderbolts* is the first time we’ve see her since then.
Alexei Shostakov (Red Guardian)
Alexei Shostakov first appeared in the 2021 film ‘Black Widow’. He was Russia’s first super soldier’s in the 1980s. He was given the Soviet Union’s recreated super solider serum and gained powers similar to Captain America. He worked with Russia on several covert operations in the 1990s to infiltrate HYDRA and Shield in the United States. During this time was placed in Ohio, and assigned to join Melina Vostokoff and adopt two daughters, Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova to pose as a family. They developed a relationship as a surrogate family. Years later, in 2016 he reunited with Vostokoff, Romanoff, and Belova to defeat the Red Room and liberate the Black Widows.
Antonia Dreykov (Taskmaster)
Antonia Dreykov first appeared in the 2021 film ‘Black Widow’. She is the daughter of General Dreykov, who ran the Red Room which brainwashed and created Black Widow assassins. She was severely injured in her childhood during an assassination attempt on her father. As a result, her mind and body are controlled by her father through a chip. The chip grants her the power to copy other people’s fighting techniques and reflexes. She failed her mission to prevent Yelena Belova from liberating the Black Widows. However, when the Red Room was destroyed and General Dreykov was killed, Taskmaster was freed from her father’s mind control. She has since attempted to rebuild her life. Thunderbolts* is the first time she will appear since ‘Black Widow’.
Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier)
Bucky Barnes first appeared in the 2011 ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’. He was Steve Rodgers’s childhood best friend, and returned as the brainwashed Hydra agent known as The Winter Solider. During that time he murdered Tony Stark’s parents, inadvertently worsening the fallout of the Avengers in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. He has since been rehabilitated, and fought alongside the Avengers in Endgame. We last saw Bucky in the Disney+ series ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’. In the show, Barnes attempted to rebuild his normal life. However, he was interrupted when John Walker—a government agent who was chosen to be the next Captain America—went rogue. He was interrupted when John Walker, a.k.a. U.S. Agent, —went rogue. Bucky and Sam Wilson joined forces to fight and defeat Walker, with Wilson becoming the new Captain America instead. Walker meanwhile, who also goes by U.S. Agent, will go on to join Barnes as a fellow Thunderbolts* member in this movie.
John Walker (U.S. Agent)
John Walker first appeared in the 2021 Disney+ series ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’. He was an army captain who was chosen by the government to succeed Steve Rogers as Captain America. Walker took the super soldier serum, but failed to complete his mission of defeating the Flash Smashers (a terrorist group who wanted to restore the world to how it was after Thanos’ snap). After Walker’s best friend Lemar Hoskins was killed in action, Walker went rogue and brutally murdered a Flash Smasher in retaliation. He was stripped of his title, with Sam Wilson claiming the mantle of Captain America instead. Walker then united with Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson for the final battle of the series. Since then, he’s secretly been recruited by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to join the Thunderbolts* as the U.S. Agent.
Ava Starr (Ghost)
Ava Starr first appeared in the 2018 film ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’. During her childhood, her parents were killed in a quantum accident. However, that same accident granted her the power to become intangible and generate extreme power. Subsequently, SHIELD exploited Starr during her childhood and turned her into a stealth agent ‘Ghost’. By 2018, she realised she was dying due to due to a lack of quantum energy. She therefore attempted to steal Hank Pym’s Quantum Tunnel during the events of ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’. Not realising she was trying to save her life, Ant-Man and The Wasp battle and detain her. By the end of the film, the Quantum Tunnel is activated and Janet van Dyne (the original Wasp) returns from the Quantum Realm. van Dyne gives Ghost some of her quantum energy and stabilises her disease. Ghost then went into hiding, and is still searching for a permanent cure to her illness. Thunderbolts* is the first time she will appear since ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’.
Who are you most excited to see in Thunderbolts*? Let us know in the comments!
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