Warning: this article contains spoilers from She-Hulk episode 2. If you have not watched the latest entry in the MCU, then turn back now!
A quick line in She-Hulk could be setting up a future Marvel movie according to a new fan theory.
Partway through She-Hulk’s second episode, Jen heads to Damage Control’s Supermax prison for a face-to-face with her new client, Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky.
Despite the past bad blood between Blonsky and Jen’s cousin Bruce, the one-time Abomination is surprisingly tranquil during the meeting. He even refers to seven 'soulmates' he met through the prison pen pal program.
Given how much Blonsky speaks about them, it’s unlikely that these 'soulmates' are up to any good – and could even be familiar to Marvel fans. For some on social media, this is a pointed reference to the Thunderbolts, the team of anti-heroes and mercenaries designed to do wet work and get their hands dirty where heroes feat to tread.
"Dude, they’re already teasing Thunderbolts, holy shit," one exclaimed on Twitter. Plenty on Reddit are of the mindset that this is all setting up Thunderbolts too. One wrote: "Why do I feel like the seven soulmates of Blonsky will turn out to be the Thunderbolts?" Another added it was a "plausible theory" and one even said, "Those seven soulmates are definitely the Thunderbolts, by the way."
Thunderbolts is officially coming as the final Marvel Phase 5 movie on July 26, 2024. It’s set to be directed by Jake Schreier and, although the cast is up in the air, we have a fairly good idea of which Thunderbolts members could make up part of the lineup – all thanks to Julia Louis Dreyfus’ Val getting in contact with Florence Pugh’s Yelena and Wyatt Russell’s US Agent. On the basis of She-Hulk’s most recent episode, a certain Abomination could certainly add a bit more punching power to their ranks. That is, if Blonsky hasn’t gone full guru by then.
She-Hulk didn’t stop there this week. Not only is there a QR code tucked away in the episode so you can claim a free comic, there’s the first implicit mention of Wolverine in the MCU too.
