Marvel has announced their upcoming movie, Thunderbolts, and fans are all for it. The movie is about a group of reformed criminals who form a team under the authority of General Thaddeus Ross. Or as comic book fans know him, Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross. However, the actor who played this character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, William Hurt, passed away, earlier this year. Hurt’s Thunderbolt was one of the most significant characters in the Thunderbolts comics. So how does Marvel expect to make their upcoming Thunderbolts movie without Thunderbolt Ross?!
Marvel’s Thunderbolts are a group of criminals with special abilities who assembled for villainous purposes. But soon, they made a transition from villains to anti-heroes, after a few appearances. As the story continued, readers fell in love with the group, especially the kind of dark fun they bring. So, it was only a matter of time before the execs picked the story for the mainstream MCU. They started introducing characters with questionable intentions, namely Yelena Belova, John Walker, and our personal favorite, Baron Zemo. But long before them, Marvel introduced the world to General Thaddeus Ross in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. That was the time when many comic book readers knew that Thunderbolts are in the MCU’s future. After all, his Red Hulk was also a member of the team!
The comics have always portrayed Thunderbolts to be a team that carries out missions that normal teams can’t. And these missions require no hesitation from the person giving the order and the person executing the mission. In the case of Thunderbolts, General Ross has been the one to assemble the team on one occasion and give orders without a care in the world for diplomacy. But following the passing of actor William Hurt on March 13, 2022, due to cancer, who will be the one to make the movie as dark as fans want?
CAN MARVEL REPLACE GENERAL ROSS IN THUNDERBOLTS?!
There’s no doubt that when Marvel cast Hurt as General Ross, his untimely and unfortunate death was not in their long-term plans. And that is why since his last major appearance in 2016’s Civil War and a minor one in 2018’s Infinity War, he has pretty much been absent. Not only that, we think Marvel planned ahead and had already replaced him with another character of the same level. And she has been working towards the first adaptation of the Thunderbolts in MCU’s Phase 4. Needless to say, it’s Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine!
Other than Ross, she is the only character to be associated with morally un-straight characters. She was the one to manipulate Yelena into killing Clint Barton. For many months, fans have been thinking she did it because he might be one of the only ones to call out on her unlawful methods later in the MCU. And this theory makes more and more sense now that she might be replacing Ross. Then, She recruited a ruined John Walker and gave him the identity of a US Agent. By now, she seems to be on the Amanda Waller path, so this can definitively prove that she might be the one to replace Ross in the future of the team.
Not only that, with rumors going around that Thunderbolts might be replacing Avengers 5 in Phase 4, Valentina might not just replace Thunderbolt Ross. If her team is the big crossover event of the new MCU, she might be replacing Nick Fury’s SHIELD position, as well. Not to mention, an evil Nick Fury, given her comic counterpart’s record as a Hydra double-agent. So, she might be the villainous factor of the MCU’s Thunderbolts. There is a comic plot where the Thunderbolts reformed themselves by changing their leader, from Baron Zemo to Clint Barton. So this is one of the many things to look forward to in this new version of Thunderbolts.
After reading all of the ways how Valentina could be replacing Ross, do you still think it’s impossible for Marvel to make Thunderbolts movie without Thunderbolt Ross? Do let us know in the comments.
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