About “Thunderbolts” in a few words:

This new 2025 flick brings together Marvel’s most reluctant team of antiheroes, pulled into a mission that tests their regrets, loyalties, and dark pasts. Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Robert Reynolds, Alexei Shostakov, and Valentina de Fontaine find themselves ensnared in a plot to destroy them — and forced to either survive together or die divided. Expect family drama, betrayals, redemption arcs, and a swirl of action and emotion.

Meet the characters from Thunderbolts

Yelena Belova

Yelena Belova is a razor-sharp, sarcastic assassin who somehow manages to be both deadly and hilariously blunt. Trained like Natasha but with her own chaotic brand of loyalty, she’s fiercely protective and also sort-of merciless when you annoy her — which is most people, frankly. She fumbles with small talk, hoards tiny spoons for reasons she’ll never admit, and drinks bleakly strong coffee as if it’s a personality trait. She can be emotionally guarded and brutally honest in the same breath, which makes her wildly unpredictable and oddly lovable. Also she’ll call you “boss” as a joke and then totally mean it five minutes later — inconsistent but iconic.

Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier) is the broody, guilt-heavy center everyone both worries about and relies on. He’s fiercely loyal, quick to protect, and carries his past around like an old leather jacket that never fits quite right. There’s the metal arm and the kill-list history, yes, but also the painting, the record collecting, the quiet attempts at normalcy between missions. He forgets things sometimes, goes to therapy-ish, and will grumble at attention while absolutely swooping in for dramatic saves. He says he hates the spotlight but will stand in it if it means someone else gets out alive.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Valentina is slick, velvet-gloved, and deliciously mysterious — the kind of recruiter who rearranges people like chess pieces while humming. She uses nicknames with casual menace, has impeccable suits, and seems to know a secret you don’t yet want to know. Ambiguity is her whole vibe: is she loyal to a flag, a job, or her own amusement? Hard to say, and that’s the point; she weaponizes charm and plausible deniability. Also she listens to terrible pop tracks on repeat when she thinks no one’s around — human, surprisingly.

Robert Reynolds

Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, is basically the walking “I can save the world and also cry in the corner” energy, huge power tangled with fragile self-worth. He’s got cosmic-level abilities (like, ridiculously big) and an insecurity that makes him alternately humble and terrifyingly grandiose. Then there’s the Void — his literal dark side that pops up like a bad mood but with apocalyptic stakes, so you never quite relax around him. He tries to be normal (water the plants, be polite) yet will also almost accidentally end things if his head clouds, which is stressful for everyone. Oh and he might collect stamps or postcards in some continuity? I swear he does something quaint like that in at least one timeline.

Alexei Shostakov

Alexei, the Red Guardian, is the lovable, blustering Soviet dad of the team — loud, heroic, and endlessly dramatic. He’ll bench-press a tank and then offer you tea and advice about honor, usually in the same breath. He’s proud and theatrical, sings patriotically in the shower (opera or folk, depends), cries at the silliest emotional beats, and eats borscht like it’s a medal. He’s both comic relief and genuinely noble, bragging about toughness but softening around kids and animals. Also sometimes he misplaces his shield and accuses capitalism of theft, which, sure, plausible.

John Walker

John Walker is the hyper-competent, painfully eager guy who wants to be the country’s hero and keeps tripping over what that actually means. He’s staunchly patriotic, reads rules like scripture, hoards protein bars, and collects flags in a way that is 100% earnest and slightly unnerving. He wants moral clarity but is very human — insecure, bristling, and prone to desperate, public flares of “I will prove myself.” He can do really decent, brave things and also make catastrophic mistakes in front of cameras; the swagger is real and the guilt is realer. Also he leaves little supportive notes for teammates sometimes, which is sweet and also wildly out of step with his angry TV appearances.