Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier recently provided an update for the film revealing it will have a “very different perspective than maybe people are expecting.”
Schreier discussed the upcoming Marvel Studios film in an interview with Collider, where he was asked, “When you were offered the chance to direct Thunderbolts what did you think you would gain from that opportunity as a director evolving his craft?”
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He responded, “I think, you know, what jumped out was– I mean, first off, the cast is just incredible and I think like any movie with that cast like how could you not be excited about getting to work with that group of people.”
“And then also, you know, [Spider-Man: No Way Home director] Jon Watts’s my roommate from college and we’re good friends and so knowing this what a great experience he had making those films,” he continued. “I mean that’s certainly– And I even did second unit on like the LA portion of one of those Spider-Man movies. So like have a little bit more kind of connection or insight into that world.”
Schreier went on, “But beyond that, it was just like a really different approach and a new kind of story to tell amidst that which I know they’ve made so many things.”
“But it’s not a sequel. Yes, these characters have appeared before, but it is a new story being told and a story I think with a very different perspective than people are expecting. And that felt exciting and felt like a real challenge worth taking on,” he concluded.
Later in the interview when he was asked about whether or not he could tease the film’s tone, style, and atmosphere, he said, “I mean, obviously, I can say so little, but I think it’s just about characters and is there something specific to those characters that bring them together and something that they’re going through that isn’t, you know, the most traditional superhero story to be told.”
“And, I think, if you can hit that and if you can make it specific,” he relayed. “I think if you look at something like Beef, what makes it what it is is that it’s so specific on so many levels. [Beef creator Lee Sung Jin] brought so much of himself to it, Ali [Wong], Steven [Yuen], everybody. And in being so specific becomes something universal.”
He then explained how he hopes to bring this to Thunderbolts, “And I think that’s sort of similar to the way that we’re looking at Thunderbolts is that there is a real, clear take and perspective on these characters, and there’s a specificity to it. That, in the end, obviously, we want to make the big universal movie that everyone can connect to, but that you can only do that by making something that feels personal.”
“And I think that’s what’s exciting about the project to us,” he said.
If we take Schreier’s words at face value it appears the Thunderbolts film might not actually have anything to do with how the Thunderbolts have been traditionally portrayed in the comics.
In the original Marvel Comics, the team consisted of Citizen V, Mach-1, Songbird, Techno, Atlas, and Meteorite and they were originally shown as a new superhero team that arrived on the scene following the Avengers being declared dead.
However, it would eventually be revealed that that Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil in disguise and included Baron Zemo, Fixer, Beetle, Screaming Mimi, Goliath, and Moonstone.
When it was revealed that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were not actually dead, Zemo decided to out the team as the Masters of Evil in order to try and keep all the members in line as a number of them had begun to see themselves as superheroes rather than villains.
His plan backfired with the a significant portion of the team turning on him. However, he and Fixer used a mind control device to pit the Thunderbolts against the Avengers and Fantastic Four.
What do you make of Schreier’s comments? What are you expecting from the Thunderbolts film?