Florence Pugh Teases “A24” Style Action Film in the MCU

Marvel Studios has apparently heard fans’ complaints about the most recent slate of MCU movies, as the marketing team for Thunderbolts* have made some against-the-grain moves to promote the MCU’s next film. In a recent interview, Florence Pugh, who reprises her long-running role as Yelena Belova, piled on to the eccentric marketing campaign by describing the MCU’s latest as an “A24-feeling” action film.

Speaking to Empire Magazine, Pugh teased how different Thunderbolts* will feel from the rest of the MCU filmography. “It ended up becoming this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes,” the actress revealed. Over the past few years, Marvel fans have criticized MCU movies for all feeling very similar and lacking any distinct voice — with Martin Scorsese even piling on to the discourse. However, the first full trailer for Thunderbolts* gave fans hope again that the MCU can produce actual “cinema.”

Meanwhile, the latest teaser for Thunderbolts* took things in a very different direction. The teaser promoted the incredible creative talent behind the film, including director Jake Schreier (Beef), cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo (The Green Knight), and musicians Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once). In the interview, Pugh referenced Schreier’s work on the hit Netflix series, saying:

“There’s a certain amount of that Beef tone in it, that does feel different. There’s an emotional darkness that we brought to this that is resonant, but doesn’t come at the expense of comedy.”

Florence Pugh Teases ‘Thunderbolts*’ Complicated New Villain

The Thunderbolts* might not be the MCU’s premiere team, but they’re all the Earth has against a dark new threat, Sentry. The new villain, who has only been referred to as “Bob” in the trailers, will be played by Lewis Pullman and will be the Marvel version of Superman, albeit with some psychiatric complications. “Bob is going through what all of them are probably, secretly, going through,” Pugh said of the group’s introduction to Bob in the film, continuing:

“Yelena sees parts of herself in him. She’s always been someone that wants to look after people. She has a sweet spot for him, and essentially likes looking after him because he’s useless. He’s absolutely useless.”

While the promotional material has tried to keep Bob’s identity under wraps, it just so happens to be the worst-kept secret in the MCU’s long history. Glimpses of Sentry’s powers have been teased in the trailers, but we have yet to see the full extent of his superhuman abilities. The most fans have seen of his costume in the trailers is his iconic belt buckle. However, the full look was recently spoiled by the film’s merchandise. Sentry’s full costume was revealed when Marvel Studios unveiled the official Funko Pops for the movie.

Thunderbolts* releases in theaters on May 2. Alongside Pugh, the film also stars Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The film is the second of three new MCU movies releasing this year. Captain America: Brave New World released in theaters in February to a very divisive response. Fans are hoping that Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: Brave New World can course correct the MCU before the release of Avengers: Doomsday next year.

Source: Empire

Thunderbolts*

Release Date

May 2, 2025

Writers

Lee Sung-jin, Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo

Franchise(s)

Marvel Cinematic Universe