It’s also learned that Thunderbolts has another new writer with Joanna Calo, which follows Fantastic Four getting at least its fourth writer.
By my count, that is at least three writers on Thunderbolts, as following Steven Yeun having been cast as The Sentry, Lee Sung Jin was brought on board Thunderbolts as the new writer who worked with both Yeun and Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier on the Beef series.
However, as we all know, Yeun dropped out of the project, so now it’s learned Joanna Calo has been brought on board as the new writer, as Lewis Pullman is now said to be playing The Sentry.
Joanna Calo also worked on Beef as well as The Bear, which is on Hulu and big time popular.
“Supposed to end with their deaths”
News of Joanna Calo as the new writer also follows rumors Thunderbolts will feature Florence Pugh’s Yelena as the lead of the movie and the leader of the team.
THR also adds some interesting info in that, apparently, the ending will be changed, as the site reports previous drafts of the scripts saw the flick end with the deaths of the team:
Marvel also hired Joanna Calo, the showrunner of acclaimed FX series The Bear, to work on the script for Thunderbolts, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The film will begin shooting in March in Atlanta. Her hiring adds a flair of prestige to the project, which stars Florence Pugh and — according to a source who has read previous drafts of the script — centers on villains and antiheroes going on a mission that was supposed to end with their deaths.
What could have been?
I know there were rumors that Thunderbolts was supposed to kill off Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier, but this is the first we’ve heard that apparently the entire team was supposed to be killed off.
Wow, what an ending that would have been, especially if they could have kept it a secret and surprise.
We can guess The Sentry might have been the one to kill them all. I also believe rumors have offered The Sentry was supposed to die, so maybe it was The Void, or something/someone else altogether?
So with new writer Joanna Calo on board, it sounds like they are changing things and that the Thunderbolts won’t die, or maybe just some of them will?
Rumors have also offered that Thunderbolts will be on the goofier side of things, about a team of losers, which sounds similar to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and honestly comes off as cringe, so maybe they’ll change that up, too.
However, if the team initially came out as goofy and then got wiped out, damn, I wouldn’t have minded seeing that on the big screen. I guess, it’s a “be careful what you wish for” scenario.
I also can’t help but think the Thunderbolts would have been cannon fodder for whoever was going to kill them. Red Hulk? That would have nicely tied into Captain America: Brave New World which gets released three months prior starring Harrison Ford, and of course, Anthony Mackie who starred with Sebastian Stan in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series.
Thunderbolts has a May 2, 2025 release date.
