Marvel fans have a theory about the formation of the Thunderbolts – and Valentina's motives

Sam Wilson has only just touched down in Captain America: Brave New World, but already fans are predicting what's in store with them when they run into the Thunderbolts later this year. The new film starring Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Sebastian Stan will see them unite in a ragtag team of heroes against Valentina Allegra De Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It's this joint aim that one fan thinks they've figured out and would explain why in the latest preview, Pugh's Yelena tells Valentina to kindly eat shit.

The fan over on Reddit hypothesized that the rough and ready-enhanced individuals who are all surprised to see each other at an unnamed test facility do so as a trial run for the meek and mild Lewis Pullman's Bob (who is really The Sentry). Val is hoping that The Sentry will be an Avengers alternative, and Yelena and company are wandering in as lambs to the slaughter. They somehow make it out alive, and all join up to get back at the woman who wronged them all.

"What Val doesn't account for, is that the team actually work together somehow and escapes, taking Sentry/Bob with them not knowing his importance, and then the chaos of the film ensues and Sentry, now released, becomes Void," the fan guesses. "The Thunderbolts feel an element of guilt for their part in releasing Sentry, and Bucky then comes and asks the team to help defeat him, proving Val wrong about what this team is capable of."

Another fan backed the claim saying, "Yeah, I think you're actually spot on. Feels like an unintentional misdirected where everybody is assuming the Thunderbolts are a team assembled by Val when the actual trailers don't indicate that at all. Most of them work for Val but not under a team. Sentry is actually the Avengers replacement that Val has in mind."

The theory certainly gives a Dirty Dozen, do-or-die vibe to what feels fitting of what's on show so far. You can see how they handle themselves when Thunderbolts strikes in theatres on May 2, 2025. Get the full lowdown on the titular team with our guide here.