Intriguing news coming out of the Marvel camp, with rumors now circulating that Indiana Jones star and Hollywood legend Harrison Ford is being eyed for the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the upcoming Thunderbolts. Following the death of Academy Award winner and MCU star William Hurt, who sadly passed away in March after suffering from prostate cancer, insider Jeff Sneider has revealed to The Hot Mic that the studio is looking to recast the role with Ford.
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has appeared throughout the MCU in the likes of The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, and the Avengers outings, with William Hurt providing the character with the perfect amount of gruff stoicism. While it has been assumed that the Thunderbolts movie would not recast the role, with the name of the antihero team instead being used as a tribute to the dearly departed general, it sounds like Marvel Studios is instead considering continuing the character with Harrison Ford.
“Marvel has denied what I’m about to tell you and that’s a matter of timing. Am I too early or am I too late? So the deal is multiple sources have indicated that Harrison Ford either is or was the studio’s top choice to star in the Thunderbolts movie as General Ross himself because William Hurt passed away.”
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While there will be many questioning the idea of a recasting, Ford would undoubtedly be a pitch-perfect, crowd-pleasing choice for the role of Thunderbolt Ross. Sneider even went on to reveal that there had been a plan in place to announce Ford’s involvement in Thunderbolts at D23, but that this was pushed back by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in order to keep the attention on Ford’s return in Indiana Jones 5.
The Thunderbolts Line-Up Has Now Been Revealed
Marvel Studios
After months of speculation, Marvel Studios has now revealed who will be on the Thunderbolts team when they make their big screen debut in 2024. As shown in a piece of concept art unveiled during the D23 Expo, the Thunderbolts will consist of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
Black Widow star David Harbour has since revealed details of the Thunderbolts movie, calling it a comedy-drama. “I think they’re all difficult people who all have many weaknesses,” the actor said of the unorthodox superhero team. “As you may know, as I certainly do, when you put a bunch of people with various certain weaknesses together, there’s often drama and comedy.”
He continued adding, “But I think that’s one of the mysteries of the movie is what is their relationship, and as you say, there is a lot of exciting things as you wrap up the next phase in terms of sort of what their part of the whole universe is in this random, chaotic way. So, you know, we can’t say too much at this point, but they’re an exciting introduction of this team together again, that’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Directed by Jake Schreier, filming on Thunderbolts is expected to begin early next year before being released on July 26, 2024.
