Thunderbolts Gets A New, Earlier Release Date As Marvel Shuffles Its Calendar

Once again, Marvel's long-awaited "Thunderbolts" movie has been given a new release date. The good news for those looking forward to this one is that, for once, Disney has moved the film up by a couple of months rather than delay it again. Whether or not this date is the one that sticks remains to be seen, but mark your calendars for May 2, 2025, and plan accordingly.

Marvel Studios did a little bit of shuffling around with its release calendar, with "The Fantastic Four" taking over the July 25, 2025, release date that was previously held by "Thunderbolts." In announcing the new dates, Marvel also finally confirmed the cast for "Fantastic Four," with Pedro Pascal playing Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby playing Sue Storm, Ebon Moss Bachrach playing Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn playing Johnny Storm. Most of those names have been circling the rumor mill for some time, but have finally been made official.

As for "Thunderbolts," it will be led by many familiar faces, including David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), Wyatt Russell (John Walker), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster), and Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova). The film was originally announced during Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con presentation in 2022, revealing that this project will conclude Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If that still holds true, then "Fantastic Four" will kick off Phase 6.

Jake Schreier ("Paper Towns") is in the director's chair for this one, working from a script by Lee Sung Jin ("Beef"). This movie has been delayed several times since it was first announced and has had to navigate a seemingly tough road behind the scenes. It was pushed back by the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes last year, for one. Marvel Studios has also had a bit of trouble with casting, as the role of Sentry has been difficult to nail down.

Originally, Steven Yeun ("The Walking Dead") had been tapped to star as the character, but he recently had to drop out over scheduling issues. More recently, Lewis Pullman ("Top Gun: Maverick") was said to be the frontrunner to replace Yeun, though Marvel has yet to confirm that. Ayo Edebiri ("The Bear") also had to drop out of playing an undisclosed role in the film, with Geraldine Viswanathan ("Blockers") brought in to replace her.

Plot details for the film remain under wraps, but for those unfamiliar, the Thunderbolts are not dissimilar to DC's Suicide Squad. It's a group of characters who are generally bad guys that end up carrying out missions that wouldn't befit your average superhero.

Look for Marvel's "Thunderbolts" in theaters on May 2, 2025.