Thunderbolts* Co-Writer on How Kevin Feige Made New Avengers Twist Happen

Eric Pearson opened up about the major twist in Thunderbolts* and how it came straight from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Longtime MCU writer Eric Pearson said Feige pushed to rebrand the Thunderbolts* as the “New Avengers,” a twist revealed late in production. He also detailed key script changes, including Taskmaster’s death, the dropped John Walker villain arc, and how Sentry redefined the film’s emotional core.

Eric Pearson reveals how Thunderbolts*’ New Avengers twist happened

Eric Pearson revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the “New Avengers” rebrand in Thunderbolts* was Kevin Feige’s idea.

Pearson initially pitched Valentina presenting the Thunderbolts publicly, but Feige responded, “I think that she should call them the Avengers.” Pearson explained, “That was Kevin’s idea… and it’s part of some four-dimensional chess plan that I don’t totally know yet.”

The film’s asterisk was a placeholder for a larger rebranding twist revealed in a final press conference scene. The name “Thunderbolts” originally came from a soccer team reference, and the team’s formation stemmed from Yelena Belova leading a group of misfits, including Ghost and Red Guardian, against Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Pearson said the Taskmaster subplot with Ava/Ghost was cut, noting, “They’d both been raised in labs, and Ava big-sistered her into how to break free and be her own person.” In the final cut, Ghost executes Taskmaster via headshot, which surprised Pearson: “That is the one biggest change. I was shocked.”

Valentina originally planned to make John Walker the team’s antagonist by unleashing his worst traits. Pearson said, “He then becomes the monster, and [the Thunderbolts] have to talk him down. It didn’t ever totally work.”

Sentry’s inclusion came later and embodied the film’s mental health themes. Pearson explained, “The Sentry is the golden God of pure goodness, and the Void is pure evil… heroic ambition and self-esteem versus depression and self-loathing.”

Pearson is currently working on The Fantastic Four: First Steps and confirmed that he has seen one cut of the film. Asked to describe it, he replied with one word: “Galactus.” He also teased upcoming projects including Fast and Loose for Netflix and a potential franchise reboot.

Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net