The Thunderbolts* team of the MCU is an odd collective of mercenaries and anti-heroes. This is in keeping with the team’s original theme from the classic Marvel comic books. While several teams have used the name over the years, nearly all of them were made up of less-than-honorable individuals. However, some of these Thunderbolts honestly sought redemption for their crimes.
The first Thunderbolts team was formed in 1997, in the aftermath of the Onslaught and Heroes Reborn events. With The Avengers and Fantastic Four seemingly killed, Earth-616 was suddenly without an organized superhero team to defend it. It was in this moment of need that a new superhero team appeared. Comprised of Citizen V, Techno, Moonstone, MACH-1, Atlas, and Songbird, the Thunderbolts presented themselves as the next generation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. However, the team was truly a group of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
(Image Source: Marvel / Mark Bagley)
The end of Thunderbolts #1 revealed the team as a rebranded Masters of Evil under the command of Baron Zemo. It was his hope to replace The Avengers and gain access to their security clearances, as a means of taking over the world. However, Zemo failed to account for the treachery of some of his teammates. He also failed to predict that half the team (MACH-1, Songbird, and Atlas) would honestly come to like being heroes.
Zemo ultimately revealed his scheme to the world when he realized how many of his allies honestly wanted redemption. This left the heroic Thunderbolts in a jam, with the newly returned Avengers hunting them along with every law enforcement body in America. Thankfully, they found an unlikely advocate in Hawkeye, who was himself a reformed supervillain.
(Image Source: Marvel / Mark Bagley)
This incarnation briefly reformed in 2003, recruiting more former members of the Masters of Evil under new names. Afterward, Hawkeye left the team, which rebranded itself as the New Thunderbolts in 2005. Despite the inclusion of new recruits, like Speed Demon and Radioactive Man, this team largely functioned as a standard superhero team.
In 2006, the Thunderbolts were approached by Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Hank Pym. They were asked to recruit likely supervillains to support the Pro-Registration cause on behalf of the American government. However, unbeknownst to the establishment heroes, they had already begun to do so.
(Image Source: Marvel / Tom Grummett)
Under the command of Baron Zemo, these Thunderbolts enlisted dozens of supervillains. Few of them cared about the legitimacy offered by the new team. They just wanted a chance to settle old scores and hunt those superheroes who refused to register with the government.
Following the Civil War, Norman Osborn was placed in charge of the Thunderbolts. They continued their agenda of hunting unregistered vigilantes. However, Obsborn began playing a long con to increase his personal power.
(Image Source: Marvel / Olivier Coipel)
In time, Osborn was placed in charge of HAMMER – a defense agency intended to replace SHIELD. While the Thunderbolts were officially decommissioned, Osborn kept some members around as a personal black-ops team. Others were recruited to a new team of Avengers, where they pretended to be new incarnations of beloved heroes. Bullseye, for instance, became the new Hawkeye. Most of these Thunderbolts were exposed along with Norman Osborn following the Siege event in 2010.
The past 15 years saw a succession of teams using the Thunderbolts name. Luke Cage briefly oversaw one team, which operated as a work-release program out of The Raft. In 2013, Red Hulk formed his own team with Deadpool, Elektra, and Punisher. In 2016, the Winter Soldier reformed the Thunderbolts, with most of the original line-up. Finally, in 2020, Wilson Fisk also created his own Thunderbolts team, as Mayor of New York City, to help him crack down on unlicensed superheroes.
(Image Source: Marvel / Sean Izaakse)
Ironically, it was Fisk’s actions that led to the creation of the most heroic incarnation of the Thunderbolts in 2022. After being elected to replace the Kingpin, Luke Cage found that Fisk’s law only allowed heroes under the Thunderbolts name to operate in New York City. To that end, he recruited Hawkeye to build a new team to act as the city’s official protectors.
(Image Source: Marvel / Mahmud Asrar)
Founded in 2024, the current Thunderbolts team was established by Bucky Barnes. Now going by The Revolution, he formed the team as a covert answer to The Avengers. The team includes several characters from the Thunderbolts* movie, such as US Agent, White Widow, and Red Guardian. However, it also has former Avengers, like Shang-Chi and Black Widow.
The Thunderbolts name was used by several teams in the main Marvel Comics universe before its latest incarnation in the MCU. Read More