With Marvel Studios latest entry in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolts* mere
days away, I thought it would be fun to take another quick break from my usual
content and make a guide for anyone wanting to catch up or refresh before it
hits theatres. Here’s What to Watch Before Thunderbolts.
First things first, in 2011 Captain America: The
First Avenger introduced the world at large to the Marvel Cinematic
Universe’s Captain America, but more relevantly brought us Sebastian
Stan in the role of James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. Best friend to Steve
Rogers aka Captain America, Bucky would seemingly perish on a
mission against Hydra during World War II.
Thankfully for the many, many Sebastian Stan fans,
three years later in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), in
modern times the defrosted Captain America would face off against the
eponymous Winter Soldier in his mission to take down the secretly
surviving Hydra among S.H.I.E.L.D. Who is the Winter Soldier? None other
than a brainwashed and super soldier serum enhanced Bucky.
A post-credit scene in the 2015 film Ant-Man would
lead directly into events seen in Captain America: Civil War. The third
entry in Cap’s solo film series, Captain America: Civil War (2016)
featured a full-blown physical fight between the various Avengers, with Iron
Man leading a team against Captain America when Bucky is framed
for a terror attack by Helmut Zemo. Following the fallout from this film’s
finale, the Avengers disbanded, and Bucky would stay in Wakanda
to have his brainwashing deprogrammed.
Another post-credits scene, this time in 2018’s Black Panther lets us know Bucky is feeling better and his skills are required for a fast-approaching fight. 2018 properly marked Bucky’s return in Avengers: Infinity War, where Steve’s team of former Avengers come together in Wakanda to hold off the forces of the Mad Titan named Thanos in an effort to prevent the death of the Vision in Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones. With the Avengers still disassembled, they would all fail in their efforts, and Bucky was among half the universe’s population to be erased from existence with a snap of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet adorned fingers.
Pivoting now to a prequel film of sorts, and another 2018
release; Ant-Man and the Wasp debuted Ava Starr as the intangible
antagonist Ghost. Set short before the events of Avengers: Infinity
War, we learn Ava’s abilities are deteriorating and killing her.
Fortunately, she is saved by the intervention of Janet Van Dyne who
utilizes energy obtained from her time trapped in the Quantum Realm to
stabilize Ghost.
Avengers: Endgame in 2019 saw the likes of Bucky
returned to life thanks to a united Avengers team succeeding in
their ‘Time Heist’ mission. And it was a good thing too, because
everyone was needed to fight off the army of a time-travelling Thanos
and prevent total annihilation. The victory would come at the cost of three of
the Avengers original members: Natasha Romanoff aka Black
Widow, Tony Stark aka Iron Man and Steve Rogers aka Captain
America. A now elderly Steve Rogers would hand off the Captain
America Shield to Sam Wilson aka The Falcon.
We all skipped a year, then 2021 saw the release of
the Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Catching up
with Bucky, we learn he has been cleared of prior charges and is attending
court-mandated therapy and attempting to atone for his past actions as The
Winter Soldier. When a terrorist
group called the Flag-Smashers emerges, both Bucky and Sam
are surprised when the US Government assigns a new Captain America
aka John Walker the task of stopping them. While dealing with their own animosity
toward one another, Sam and Bucky find themselves on the same trail
and are forced to step up to the occasion when a freshly minted super soldier John
Walker publicly murders one of the Flag-Smashers in cold-blood with Captain
America’s Shield, losing the mantle in the process. At the end of the
series, John Walker is dubbed U.S. Agent and recruited by the
mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Meanwhile on the big screen, 2021 also brought us the
much-delayed and long-overdue Black Widow movie, a prequel to Avengers:
Infinity War. This film revealed Natasha Romanoff’s origins and
introduces her surrogate family of Russian spies including ‘father’ Alexsei
Shostakov aka the super soldier Red Guardian, ‘mother’ Melina
and younger ‘sister’ Yelena Belova. Natasha brings down the Red
Room and in the process frees the various Black Widow agents around
the world from the control of the sinister Dreykov. It’s also revealed
that Deykov’s daughter, Antonia survived a previous attempt on her
father’s life and had been turned into the assassin Taskmaster by him.
During a post-credts scene set after Avengers: Endgame, Yelena is
recruited by Valentina to take down her sister’s supposed killer, Clint
Barton aka Hawkeye.
We wouldn’t have to wait long for Yelena to return, showing
up in the 2021 Disney+ series Hawkeye for Episode 4, 5 and
6. There she would meet the young archery protégé Kate Bishop and learns
from Clint Barton himself the truth of what happened to her sister Natasha.
We also see via flashback that Yelena was among those ‘snapped’ out of
existence for five years by Thanos.
We learn quite a bit about the mysterious Valentina Allegra
de Fontaine during 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The
film reveals that Val is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
that she was formerly married to Wakandan ally and fellow CIA Agent
Everett Ross and that she has ambitions of obtaining the rare metal Vibranium.
Ross loses his job and finds himself arrested for working with the Wakandans,
who shortly afterwards break him free. Val, on the other hand, remains as
Director of the CIA.
Finally, 2025’s first Marvel Cinematic Universe
movie, Captain America: Brave New World featured a cameo from James ‘Bucky’
Barnes wherein he comes to show his support to his friend Sam Wilson
aka the new Captain America. It’s also established that Bucky is running
for Congress which sets him up for his new status quo in the Thunderbolts*
movie.
As a bonus, Avengers Tower was first established to
have been sold during 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, and its evident
from the Thunderbolts* trailers we will finally see that little plot thread
come to bear.
Barring any unforeseen surprise cameos or post-credits
reveals, that should be all you need to get a deeper appreciation out of the Thunderbolts*
movie.
Until I get my face emblazoned on a Wheaties box, I remain
frogoat