Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts has added The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun to its ensemble cast. Yeun joins the roster as a character who could return in future MCU projects.
Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts follows a team of anti-heroes commissioned by the government to do black ops missions. So, they are essentially the MCU's answer to The Suicide Squad. Taking its name from Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross, the team has been teased in several Marvel Studios projects, including the Disney Plus series The Falcon and Winter Soldier, which saw the mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruit John Walker, a.k.a. US Agent. De Fontaine also appeared at the end of Marvel Studios' Black Widow, where she was seen recruiting Natasha Romanoff's sister, Yelena Belova.
Deadline reports Yeun's role in Thunderbolts is "significant," but precise details on his character were not provided. However, the character could play a role in future MCU movies. Yeun joins an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hanna John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The Bear star Ayo Edebiri has also been cast in an undisclosed role. Harrison Ford will star as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, the fictional US Secretary of State and soon-to-be President. Jake Schreier is set to direct the film, with Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson writing the script.
Yeun is best known for his breakout role on the AMC series The Walking Dead, where he played fan favorite Glenn for six seasons. Since then Yeun's career has skyrocketed. In 2018, he starred in the acclaimed South-Korean film Burning, and in 2020 he starred in A24's Minari, which earned him an Oscar nomination. More recently, Yeun appeared in director Jordan Peele's mind-bending sci-fi horror film Nope.
Yeun is set to star in the highly anticipated Netflix and A24 dark comedy series Beef, also starring comedian Ali Wong. He is also set to star in director Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17, reuniting the actor and director who previously worked together on the Netflix film Okja.
Thunderbolts is scheduled for release on July 26, 2024.
Source: Deadline