At San Diego Comic-Con this year, Thunderbolts, the film which plans to wrap up Marvel’s upcoming Phase 5, was announced to be coming to the silver screen soon. While the MCU has actively been planting the seeds of the future premise, fans of the comic-book anti-hero team immediately knew what to look forward to. With many reports and speculations surfacing the Internet since then, now comes the news of the potential leader of the Phase 5 endeavor — and it is none other than Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova.
When it comes to Yelena Belova, the world simply cannot get enough of the character. First seen in the 2021 Scarlett Johansson-led Black Widow, and subsequently making appearances in the Disney+ series, Hawkeye, many have hailed her as one of the most beloved recently introduced MCU characters.
However, amidst reports and speculations detailing that the Jake Schreier-directed film will see her at the forefront, some have started fanning the flames of the much-contested “M-She-U” controversy.
Yelena Belova Leading The Thunderbolts?
According to Deadline’s Justin Kroll, in a recent Matthew Belloni’s podcast, The Town, the Phase 5 movie will see Florence Pugh‘s character as the leading figure of the much-awaited team-up. According to him, the film is “Marvel’s Suicide Squad.” What was also intriguing is how the anticipated endeavor has been alluded to as a “spin-off” for Pugh’s role.
Following is what Kroll detailed:
“[Florence Pugh] has got the Marvel superhero that’s already got a spin-off. Upcoming for her, actually, on that character is this Thunderbolts film, which is basically Marvel’s Suicide Squad. Hopefully, it has better results.”
Moreover, with further elaboration, he noted:
“But the concept is it’d be her leading the team of like Wyatt Russell’s [John Walker], Daniel Bruhl’s [Zemo], those anti-heroes that aren’t exactly good but aren’t exactly bad … And people seem to like the Yelena character.”
Therefore, as per such claims, Yelena will not only be a part of the Phase 5 film but will also be a central, primary focus. A recent report also claimed that the MCU film will have an interesting line-up of anti-heroes and majorly be centered around characters such as Baron Zemo, Yelena Belova, Taskmaster, Ghost, Abomination, U.S. Agent, Titania, and Winter Soldier. However, such a speculative line-up raised confusion, especially with the inclusion of Bucky Barnes into the mix.
Previously, Kevin Feige had noted that Thunderbolts will also include characters we have not met… “yet.” Hence, such a hypothetical guess of a line-up may not be what the fans will witness with the film’s ultimate release.
Fuel To Fire For The ‘M-She-U’ Controversy
If you have not been living under a rock, then you must be well aware by now of what the ‘M-She-U’ stands for – especially with the new episode of She-Hulk making a dig at it. According to certain fans and several self-proclaimed critics of the Internet, the recent years of MCU have witnessed a rise in films that have allegedly sidelined some of the major characters of the franchise at the expense of female character inclusion and empowerment. The term is a wordplay on MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and stems back to mainly the 2019 Captain Marvel release.
With Yelena reportedly at the forefront of Thunderbolts, some have yet again voiced how there’s no denying the ‘M-She-U’ allegations. Many have affirmed that they’d rather see John Walker or Baron Zemo as the rightful leader of the premise.
However, taking a step back from the murky waters of online debates and contention, a stupendous majority have expressed their enthusiasm over Yelena as the lead of the film. As for now, people who are concerned over Baron Zemo or the U.S. Agent not getting their spotlight should not be too worried, as these are speculative reports; not set in stone. Besides, the actual plot may revolve around something entirely too different and not simply serve as Yelena’s “spin-off” story.
Only time can tell. Whatever it is that MCU has up its sleeves, the fans will surely be ecstatic to finally witness it. The future seems to promise greatness.
Thunderbolts is slated for a 26 July 2024 release.
Source: The Town
