Steven Yeun bolts from Marvel’s Thunderbolts
The hits keep on coming as the expanding multiverse loses one of its newest players
Perhaps sparing himself from headlines recapping the underwhelming box office of yet another Marvel film, Steven Yeun has exited Thunderbolts, per Variety. This comes after fans rejoiced over his entrance into the MCU last February. At the time, mere days after the release of Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, a canary in the coal mine for 2023’s extended bout with superhero fatigue, Yeun was an exciting get for the MCU. Now, it seems he’s avoiding having his name dragged by the Monday morning studio execs at The A.V. Club. His loss!
Yeun was expected to play a major role in the series—though Invincible creator and frequent Yeun collaborator, Robert Kirkman, said the actor was playing The Sentry. However, it was never officially announced what that role was, how it would fit into Phase 5, or whether or not he was, in fact, a Skrull. We no longer know if that’s a good or bad thing, but the question remains unanswered.
Thunderbolts isn’t just any Marvel project, though. It’s a major crossover event, the kind they never make anymore, joining characters from Ant-Man And The Wasp, The Falcon And The Winter Solider, and Black Widow. It’s a collection of everyone’s favorite third-tier Marvel heroes that populated whatever phase we’re currently in. Some big names are still expected to show up for Thunderbolts, including Florence Pugh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, and Harrison Ford. Ford, who is still with the project, called the upcoming Phase 5 capper, Captain America: Brave New World, a “piece of shit,” and we were all supposed to pretend he was kidding.
Yeun’s exit is yet another blow to Marvel Studios. Aside from searching for a new Kang The Conqueror following Jonathan Majors’ recent firing, Marvel has faced a downturn in the superhero movie market, particularly after the release of The Marvels, the studio’s first movie to fail to reach $100 million at the domestic box office. Currently, Marvel only has two things officially on the docket this year: Deadpool 3 (oh, the jokes he’ll make about all this) and Echo, which, for Disney’s sake, better generate some excitement over quipping vigilantes in underlit rooms.