After a lengthy hiatus (again) I’m back with some speculation after watching the second episode of She-Hulk.
When Jennifer gets hired by the law firm and asked to represent Emil Blonsky, she goes to meet him in his super-duper mega secure prison cell. They talk for a minute about how he tried to kill Bruce back in the day, and then he mentions having “seven soulmates”. This is most certainly setting up the Thunderbolts. There’s no other reason they would put that piece in there. But who would be on the team? Thunderbolt Ross doesn’t make sense to me because there’s already a hulk-type figure on the roster. Though he might be the threat in the eventual Thunderbolts movie.
U.S. Agent & Yelena Belova have already been recruited by Val. Their spot on the roster is all but assured. Here are some options for the remainder of Abomination’s “Seven Soulmates”. (There’s more than seven here, but feel free to chime in in the comments with your picks, and why!)
Punisher — Frank Castle is an obvious choice for a vigilante team hired for “the greater good” against the establishment. Val is the kind of person to offer him vengeance on someone who deserves it.
Luke Cage — Cage is an interesting choice for team lead because of his constant fight for equality. In the recent run of “Devil’s Reign” he ran for Mayor against Fisk in New York, but I can see Val weaponizing his convictions for her own machinations. Plus it would be interesting to see him brought into the MCU in an anti-hero type capacity.
Baron Zemo — If Feige is headed toward the “Dark Avengers” arc (along with the Midnight Sons?) Zemo heads up the team under the supervision of Norman Osborn. Would give an interesting twist to the Secret Invasion narrative with the Skrulls.
Taskmaster — Taskmaster’s character was short lived in the Black Widow movie, but the character is too prominent to be a one and done (unless they did her like they did my boy Ultron…). In my opinion, Taskmaster deserves a spot on the team.
Ghost — Ghost was the main antagonist in Ant-Man 2. She was weaponized by Shield, which could be all the motive she needs to join a team like the Thunderbolts.
Moonstone — Dr. Karla Sofen was an unethical psychiatrist who manipulated the original Moonstone (Lloyd Bloch) into giving her the Kree device that granted him his powers. She worked extensively with Baron Zemo on the Masters of Evil Team. However, when the Avengers went missing, Zemo put together the Thunderbolts to masquerade as heroes while getting away with their not-so-heroic plans. During this time, Moonstone re-branded herself as Meteorite. More recently, when Norman Osborn took control of the Thunderbolts and eventually formed the Dark Avengers, Karla was invited to pose as the ‘dark’ Captain Marvel. If Rogue isn’t the main antagonist in the next Captain Marvel installment, I’d be willing to put money on it that it’s Dr. Karla Sofen (or Super Skrull, but that’s another post entirely).
Winter Soldier & Hawkeye — Bucky and Clint have both had stints leading the Thunderbolts. It feels likely to me that we’ll at least see one of them grace the ranks. I’d lean more towards Bucky since there’s speculation that Marvel and Feige are gearing up for the West Coast Avengers at some point (which is led by Clint).
Swordsman — There’s a possibility that Jack Duquesne returns as the Swordsman from his short stint in the Hawkeye series. The only thing suggesting his inclusion in the Thunderbolts lineup is that he’s been part of the team before, in the comics.
Photon — Monica Rambeau’s debut as Photon was short lived, and we didn’t quite get to see what exactly her beef with Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau was/is when it was mentioned back in WandaVision. It would be pretty cool if Moonstone and Photon go head to head with Captain Marvel and Maria Rambeau in The Marvels (2023).
Last, but definitely not least: Deadpool & Juggernaut — They’ve both been on the Thunderbolt roster in the past, and Marvel now has the rights to Deadpool (and with him, Juggernaut and Colossus). But I only see these two being added if Wolverine and/or Venom are thrown into the mix.
So what do you think? Let me know in the comments!