Thunderbolts*: Florence Pugh opens up about the new Marvel “indie” movie

By Violaine Schütz, 

and Alexandre Chevarin.

Published on 28 April 2025. Updated on 1 April 2026.

Marvel reinvents the superhero film with the very “indie” Thunderbolts*

Starting from January 30th, 2026, Disney+ is airing one of Marvel’s latest production, the dark Thunderbolts*, released in April 2025. Directed by Jake Schreier (who helmed several episodes of the brilliant series Beef), this feature will close Phase Five of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), which began in 2023 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

A phase that is made up of several films exploring the multiverse, a concept included in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). But Marvel’s ambition has since shifted. The focus now is the often dark emotional side of human beings. In characters that are both flawed, troubled, and compelling… In Thunderbolts*, which blends action, emotion, and espionage, a team of misfit anti-heroes, or mercenaries, are forced to join forces to defeat a common enemy with a tormented soul.

Florence Pugh, the soul of Thunderbolts*

In this new Marvel movie, expected to be as psychological as it is action-packed, the brilliant and moving Florence Pugh portrays the disillusioned, badass, and courageous Yelena Belova, the younger sister of Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson (who is also one of Thunderbolts*‘ producers), working as an assassin for high-ranking figures.

With such a brilliant actress, Marvel aims at blending indie cinema with blockbuster spectacle. The 29-year-old British star is equally at home in independent films (Midsommar, A Good Person) as she is in larger productions (Dune: Part Two, Black Widow, Oppenheimer). Thunderbolts* tries to reach the level of this incredible actress. “It ended up becoming this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes,” Florence Pugh shared to Empire Magazine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3dvh7PdCHk

An impressive stunt

The essence of this new Marvel film is captured in its opening sequence. As Florence Pugh revealed during a virtual press conference which Numéro attended on April 27th, 2025, the movie begins with Yelena’s breathtaking jump, symbolizing her mental state.

The actress had to convince producers to let her jump from the second tallest tower in the world: the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This skyscraper stands at 678.9 meters tall. The insurance companies were not exactly thrilled about this Tom Cruise-like stunt.

It was a brilliant idea worth the investment, according to Florence Pugh. She admitted at the conference: “When I read the script and saw the first page, I thought it was such an impressive and powerful way to start a movie like this. It’s heartbreaking. It really made me understand where Yelena’s mindset was. It felt like she was jumping off a building, almost like a suicide, heightened by the voiceover. It’s not a beautiful image to see, generally. We all associate it with something very bad. So when she actually parachutes down, everyone’s stomach twists.”

“You have to stand atop one of the tallest buildings in the world and pretend it’s not scary and that you want to jump. It was crazy.” Florence Pugh

Unafraid of heights, the actress then added: “Then you have to stand on top of one of the tallest buildings in the world and act like it’s not scary, and you want to jump off. It was crazy.”

Humble, she clarified: “I just want to say, obviously, none of the stunts would have been possible without the brilliant stunt coordinators who choreographed everything weeks in advance, and the riggers. So even though I like to say I did some of my stunts, there’s a lot of amazing stunt work in the movie that’s not done by me. So, I don’t want to take all the credit.”

Highly symbolic looks

Doing dangerous stunts wasn’t the only way Florence Pugh left her mark in Thunderbolts. She also shared ideas about her protagonist’s costumes, emphasizing Yelena’s vulnerable mental state. “Yelena is so lost at the beginning of the film. She has no reason to be here anymore. She lost her sister and family. Her relationship with her father is broken. She’s in such a state that she’s happy to put herself in danger. So, during the first costume fittings, when I was supposed to don my superhero suit, I said: ‘No, no, no. If she’s asking to be thrown into these deadly missions, she should be wearing something that doesn’t protect her.’ We then discussed her wearing a tracksuit,” she explained.

The star added: “We said: ‘Let’s strip away the protective superhero costume with all its buttons and gadgets!’ So even though she’s still doing all these cool stunts, she’s basically going into missions completely ‘naked’. It adds a texture to her desperate wish for someone to end it all for her.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgLc7y0hLTM

A lovable band of misfits

Alongside Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan reprises his role as Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier), seen in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). David Harbour (the Red Guardian) and Olga Kurylenko, both from Black Widow (2021), also join, alongside Hannah John-Kamen and Wyatt Russell, rounding out this unlikely union of quirky supervillains.

The villains, a genetically modified powerful outcast and a ruthless politician, are portrayed by Lewis Pullman (Lessons in Chemistry, Top Gun: Maverick) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld).

The underlying message of Thunderbolts*? You have to set aside your differences to move forward. It’s a proven cinematic formula: nothing beats losers and outcasts overcoming their differences to become better versions of themselves and, incidentally, save the world.

“Yelena is incredibly strong. She wants to have a sense of community.” — Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh elaborated: “Yelena is incredibly strong. She wants to have a sense of community. That’s how we met her in Black Widow: she was desperate to show everyone what it meant for her to have a family, real or not. I think we’ll pick up from there. We witness a dispute between a father and his daughter, a moment where they can both say: ‘You made a mistake.’ ‘Well, you did too.’ Growing the character in such a real way really impressed me. I was glad we were allowed to do that.”

The gang in this new Marvel film is somewhat reminiscent of Suicide Squad (2016 and 2021), which depicted a chaotic alliance of DC Comics supervillains led by a stunning Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Yet Thunderbolts* innovates by adding emotional depth to its storyline.

Opening a broader discussion about mental health

The film’s trailer hints at explosive entertainment, filled with stunts. While humor remains present, the film also takes a more serious tone, tackling issues like trauma, grief, and depression, reminiscent of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

Florence Pugh made a comment about this topic during the press conference: “I’m happy that we were allowed to show someone who is visibly not okay and doesn’t know how to get better. Yelena says it several times in the film, particularly when she sees her father, Alexei, for the first time. She asks him if she should stay or not. And she doesn’t really get the answer she wants. I think it’s impressive to see a Marvel movie, that will be watched by so many people, deliver such a message: we all must constantly learn, and we must be there for each other. And that’s ultimately how she is saved. She is saved by this new family.”

“I’m happy we were allowed to show someone who is obviously not doing well.” — Florence Pugh

The Dune: Part Two actress added: “I was very grateful for the script’s intent to truly depict Yelena’s truth. It’s always scary playing someone whose story has spanned years. It could have been mishandled. Some moments of her healing could have been skipped. But the script really captures how she feels, all the trauma inflicted on her, and what she’s been through.”

After a few disappointments, Marvel seems poised to win back critics by opening a wide conversation about mental health, a subject dear to Gen Z. It’s worth noting that the studio is making a strong comeback in 2025 with three major films. Captain America: Brave New World, followed by Thunderbolts*, and later the anticipated new Fantastic Four film, starring Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear).

Thunderbolts* (2025) by Jake Schreier, available on Disney+ on January 30th, 2026.