Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and its interconnected, episodic storytelling used to feel like a novelty — but after more than 15 years, that innovation has long outstayed its welcome. Gone are the days when one could revisit the entire MCU before the premiere of a new film. With dozens of films and shows to consume, keeping track of the timeline now feels a lot like doing homework. There’s almost too much to remember at this point, and that’s especially true when it comes to the projects that serve as sequels to multiple Marvel storylines, like the upcoming Thunderbolts.
For the most part, Marvel’s done a fine job of bringing audiences up to speed without the need for a deep dive into the catalog. But there may be a few things completionists will want to revisit before meeting the MCU’s latest superhero team. Here are four essential things to check out before the anti-Avengers make their MCU debut.
Black Widow
Black Widow retconned the MCU in the best way possible.
Marvel’s never been great at giving their female characters the spotlight, and nowhere is that truer than with Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), aka the Black Widow. Though she was one of the original Avengers, it took her nearly a decade to get her own solo outing. Black Widow was a worthy platform for Natasha — but seeing as she bit the dust years before in Avengers: Endgame, the film was forced to look back at an earlier chapter of her life. Fortunately, it made up for it somewhat by introducing two incredible successors in Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour).
Black Widow also brought the villain Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) into the MCU. She’s a consistent thorn in Natasha and Yelena’s side, but just like the Widows, she’s also a victim of the film’s true villain. Our heroines help her break free of the Red Room’s mind control, freeing her to fight another day alongside Yelena and Red Guardian in Thunderbolts. Black Widow’s post-credit scene also establishes Yelena’s connection to CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the mastermind behind the Thunderbolts themselves.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Disney+ series showed us how far the Contessa was willing to go to recruit her super-squad.
A handful of characters from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are also set to appear in Thunderbolts. Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) returns to the fray, as does his one-time adversary John Walker, aka the U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). John was notably chosen to become the next Captain America after the demise of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). He took a version of the Super Soldier Serum, but it only amplified his most irrational, violent instincts. He’s ultimately disavowed and stripped of his titles, but Valentina quickly swoops in to offer him a job working for her. Falcon/Winter Soldier isn’t a perfect series, but it goes a long way in establishing the political quagmire plaguing the MCU, and paving the way for a figure like Valentina to take charge in Thunderbolts.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Thunderbolts will bring back a forgotten villain in Ghost.
The last addition to the Thunderbolts team in Ava Starr (Hannah John Kamen). The assassin also known as Ghost was formerly a one-and-done villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp. As a child, Ava was accidentally exposed to a devastating amount of quantum energy. As a result, her cells are constantly separating and uniting, allowing her to phase through solid matter — and even out of our physical plane into the Quantum Realm. Her unique gifts are difficult to control when we first meet her. They also cause her immeasurable, chronic pain, driving her to desperate measures to try and cure her condition.
By the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ava is healed by Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and the MCU largely forgets about her after this. But she’s still been kicking around, and hopefully Thunderbolts will tell us what she’s been up to for the past seven years.
Captain America: Brave New World
Make way for Congressman Barnes.
As Thunderbolts’ direct predecessor, and another quasi-political MCU project, Captain America: Brave New World is another important film to brush up on. Apart from Bucky’s brief cameo — which informs us that the Winter Soldier is running for Congress — Brave New World also introduces us to President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The film follows his first 100 days in office, and culminates in Ross’ shocking transformation into the Red Hulk. It’s safe to assume that he won’t still be president when we return to the MCU in Thunderbolts, making the world and the heroes in it more vulnerable than ever.
