After reports that he was the studio's top choice for the role, Harrison Ford has been confirmed to join Marvel's Thunderbolts movie as Thaddeus Ross (via /Film).
The role was originally played by William Hurt in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow, but the actor passed away in March this year.
As Ross' nickname is "Thunderbolt", it's no surprise that the character has a part to play in the upcoming movie. In the comics, the Thunderbolts are a group of supervillains (or characters that have been antagonists at one point or another within the MCU) who go on government missions – a little like a certain DC squad. Ross' role is similar to that of Amanda Waller's in The Suicide Squad.
As for the rest of the movie's cast, we've previously seen Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Louis-Dreyfus) recruit the disgraced John Walker (Russell) for an unknown project at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, before doing the same with Yelena (Pugh) in the post-credits scene after Black Widow. That project, it turns out, was the Thunderbolts.
Meanwhile, David Harbour and Olga Kurylenko will be reprising their Black Widow roles as Red Guardian, and Taskmaster, Sebastian Stan will be back as Bucky Barnes, AKA the Winter Soldier, and Hannah John-Kamen will reprise her Ant-Man and the Wasp role as Ava Starr, AKA Ghost.
Black Widow writer Eric Pearson is set to pen the script, with Paper Towns helmer Jake Schreier directing. Filming is due to start early next year.
Thunderbolts is set to arrive on the big screen on July 26, 2024, bringing Marvel Phase 5 to a close. In the meantime, make sure you're up to date with the MCU with our recap of Marvel Phase 4 and our guide of what's to come in Marvel Phase 6.
