Marvel’s Thunderbolts Pauses Production During Writers Strike

Production on Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts film has been paused as the writers strike continues, Deadline reports. Filming was initially due to start in Atlanta in three weeks, but now will be delayed until the strike ends.

Based on the comics line of the same name, Thunderbolts sees a number of Marvel’s iconic anti-heros teaming up–essentially Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad. Actors reprising previous MCU roles for Thunderbolts include Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, while Steven Yeun and Ayo Edebiri will join the cast in currently undisclosed roles.

Thunderbolts is part of the MCU’s Phase Five along with Blade, which also recently had its shooting schedule delayed due to the strike. Thunderbolts is currently scheduled to release on July 26, 2024, while Blade follows it on the schedule with a September 6, 2024 release date. Marvel has also had to put TV series Wonder Man on hold, with the strike interrupting the Los Angeles-based production.

Other productions affected by the strike include Stranger Things season five, while The Rings of Power and House Of The Dragon have both chosen to continue shooting their second seasons without writers on set.

The Writers Guild of America began the strike on May 2, asking for better streaming residuals, minimum staffing requirements for TV, and regulation on the use of AI writing tools.