Ever since the first plot details from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were made available, fans have been speculating that the Thunderbolts were in line for their own spinoff, or possibly even a feature film, with Baron Zemo having led several iterations of the antihero team in the comic books over the years.
One recurring and entirely plausible line of inquiry is that Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine would operate as the group’s Nick Fury, recruiting disillusioned heroes and villains wherever she went. With Zemo and John Walker in her employ, not to mention Black Widow‘s post-credits scene revealing she was in league with Yelena Belova, it began looking more and more likely.
A new rumor from GWW offers that a Thunderbolts movie hasn’t just been given the green light by Marvel Studios, but it’s set to enter production in 2023. Bucky Barnes, Taskmaster, Thaddeus Ross, and Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Ghost are just some of the familiar names to have been members at one stage or another, so there’s plenty of inspiration to draw from.
Obviously, we should point out that this hasn’t been corroborated by anyone from Marvel, so GWW saying that they can “exclusively confirm” that Thunderbolts is happening should be taken with a grain of salt for now until more information is made available.