As corners of the Marvel universe are often wont to do, a new team of superbeings is being announced for their own team book set to release in a couple of months. This time, it’s the fan-favourite Thunderbolts, though it’s not exactly the original setup of B and C-tier Marvel baddies and antiheroes trying to redeem themselves.
Written by Jim Zub and drawn by Sean Izaakse, the new five-issue Thunderbolts run will consist of good guys: Spectrum, Power Man (Victor Alvarez), and America Chavez grace the team, along with Kara Kilgrave (going by the codename Persuasion), and a new “cyber-soldier” character named Gutsen Glory. Led by Clint Barton, who’s been with the Thunderbolts a couple of times, the new team will be heroes authorised by New York to serve the city. With the growing importance of legality and superheroes in the Marvel universe, this may end up being an issue with other superhero teams like the Avengers, since most of this team has been in at least one Avengers offshoot group in the last handful of years.
On Twitter, Zub acknowledged that while this new run is a departure from the standard Thunderbolts formula, the book would still be “playing with the concept’s implications.” Redemption, which has been a central theme in earlier incarnations, is being brought over with the roster change. During the Daredevil event Devil’s Reign — which is almost done and pretty dang good — the name’s been borrowed by baddies like US Agent and Rhino in the miniseries Villains for Hire, and they’ve been more than happy to follow the rules of Mayor Wilson Fisk to throw any superhero they capture in jail. Once Reign ends, this new team will be formed and hopefully bring some shine back to the Thunderbolts name.
Zub began his Marvel tenure with his short lived Thunderbolts run in 2016, and he considers it a thrill to come full circle. With 2022 also being their 25th anniversary year, he described it as an “absolute honour” in a statement to Marvel. “The ideas being unleashed in this series are things I’ve been wanting to do for years…Our creative team is firing on all cylinders, so get ready for ‘Justice, Like Lightning’ to strike every single issue!”
Thunderbolts #1 will release on May 25.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.