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Julia Louis-Dreyfus is packing a real punch in Marvel’s Thunderbolts.
The cast of the massive superhero ensemble — the Veep alum along with Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Wyatt Russell, and Hannah John-Kamen — sat down for an exclusive interview at Entertainment Weekly‘s Comic-Con 2024 studio in San Diego on Saturday and revealed that devious bureaucrat Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is getting into the action this time around.
Louis-Dreyfus, who has already appeared in the MCU in Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well as Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, said that Valentina is finally getting her hands dirty. “In this film, she certainly takes advantage of people we’ve come to think of as underdogs and uses that to her advantage,” she teased. “It was fun for me to play a hyper-manipulative person who is about four steps ahead of everyone in the piece, and that was cool. And I did my share of kicking ass.”
The actress laughed before adding, “I did!”
The Walt Disney Company/Getty
Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier revealed Louis-Dreyfus actually asked if she could “punch someone” in their very first meeting about the film. “And I did!” she confirmed before asking the director, “Is it still in the film?” Schreier confirmed it made the final cut … and the punch might land on someone’s throat.
The cast also revealed new character details in their exclusive sit-down interview. Viswanathan, who will make her MCU debut in the film, said her character is “in the world of Valentina.”
“I’m kind of her little righthand man,” Viswanathan added. “And kind of going, ‘Wait a minute? Who is this, and what’s she doing? So we’re really paired up, which is a dream — it’s Julia Louis Dreyfus!”
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Meanwhile, Pullman, who is also making his MCU debut in this movie, couldn’t say much about his character other than that his name is “Bob” … which is also the name of his character from Top Gun: Maverick.
“It’s very complicated, but that is the general gist,” Pullman said before clarifying, “They are incredibly, incredibly different. Everyone has their own nicknames, and Bob is not his only name. Bob is not all he goes by.”
The film’s release date was previously pushed due to the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes last year. Thunderbolts is now scheduled to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
