Stranger Things Star David Harbour Teases Red Guardian’s Thunderbolts Involvement

David Harbour was first introduced as Alexei Shostakov, also known as Red Guardian in Black Widow (2021), who is also considered a ‘Soviet equivalent’ of Captain America. As the Stranger Things star will soon be reprising his Red Guardian role, he teases his character’s involvement in The Thunderbolts.

It was at the San Diego Comic-Con when Thunderbolts was announced to be the ‘closing’ of MCU Phase Five along with cast members confirmed to return and be a part of the Thunderbolts team, namely: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr/Ghost, with Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova as leader of the team.

This group of antiheroes will soon be appearing on screen together and Harbour recently discusses his upcoming role with Total Film (via GamesRadar+), teasing that the creatives team will be doing a different take on the character with a possibly surprising twist on how differently the chatterbox will be around other antiheroes. Check out his full quote below:

“I do. I love Red Guardian. I can’t wait to pull back the layers. The great thing about him is that he’s not very well-defined in the comics, like some of the other Marvel superheroes. So we can play with him in a different way, and be surprising and unexpected.”

While The Thunderbolts’ plot revolves around the plot twist of this band of anti-heroes seemingly saving the day while the Avengers were away, they eventually end up (based on the comic book plot) revealing their true intentions as a band of villains replacing the heroes. Since this unlikely bunch was teased to also be a comedic film, it is possible that it will not only explore Red Guardian’s relationship/fatherhood with Yelena, but also on working his dynamics with a new set of team members.

Marvel’s The Thunderbolts hits theaters on July 26, 2024.

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