Marvel puts Thunderbolts production on hold indefinitely

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Black Widow
(Image credit: Marvel/Disney Plus)

Another Marvel project has been put on hold due to the ongoing writers' strike – production on Thunderbolts has been paused indefinitely until a deal is reached and the strike comes to an end, Deadline reports. Filming on the anti-hero ensemble movie was meant to kick off next month in Atlanta, but now nothing is due to kick off until the WGA strike is called off.  

Production has also recently been put on hold on upcoming TV show Wonder Man, which had been shooting in Los Angeles. Blade, the upcoming movie starring Mahershala Ali as the titular vampire hunter, has also been delayed due to the strikes, while Daredevil: Born Again has also faced disruptions.

The WGA has been on strike since May 2 after negotiations to reach a new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers fell through. The main reason for the strike is unsatisfactory pay and members also have demands for regulations for the "use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies."

As for what we can expect from Thunderbolts, we've previously seen Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) recruit the disgraced John Walker (Wyatt Russell) for an unknown project at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, before doing the same with Yelena (Florence Pugh) in the post-credits scene after Black Widow

That project, it turns out, was the Thunderbolts, a group of supervillains (or characters that have been antagonists at one point or another within the MCU) who go on government missions. David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Olga Kurylenko, and Hannah John-Kamen will also star.

Thunderbolts is due to hit the big screen on July 26, 2024. In the meantime, make sure you're up to speed on the MCU with our guides to Marvel Phase 5 and Marvel Phase 6.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.