Thunderbolts Reveals Secret Hero’s Identity—And It’s Not Who Fans Expected

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In Marvel’s “Thunderbolts,” there’s a character fans have long speculated about, and recent evidence suggests she may indeed be a secret hero. The superhero team-up movie was released last week to mixed box office results, with earnings estimated at around $73-77 million in its first three days within the U.S.

The film assembles heroes from various corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but spectators think it introduces a character that Marvel has kept under wraps so far – Geraldine Viswanathan’s Mel, an assistant to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In the comics, Mel is known as Songbird. Although Viswanathan doesn’t exhibit powers in “Thunderbolts,” one of the movie’s executive producers hinted that this could change in the future within the Marvel Universe.

In an interview with IMDb, Thunderbolts’ executive producer Brian Chapek hinted at a character, possibly named Mel, and suggested that a necklace she wears could be a clue to her transformation into Songbird. He explained, “There is a character who viewers are trying to decipher if she is or isn’t this certain individual. I would say, what symbol does she carry that might or might not hint at the development of this character’s larger role? Possibly. That’s my take on it.

You can watch a video of the interview below.

As a movie buff, I’m excited to share that it looks like Brian Chapek, the executive producer of ‘THUNDERBOLTS’, may have hinted at Mel being the character Songbird in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This tidbit comes from IMDb.

— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) May 5, 2025

Ever since Geraldine Viswanathan was chosen to play Mel in Thunderbolts, fans have pondered if her character could be Songbird in the upcoming Marvel team-up movie. A sneak peek from Thunderbolts even hints at a Songbird reference, as Mel is shown wearing a bird-shaped necklace. It’s not hard to guess that this Mel might be linked to Melissa Gold, aka Songbird.

Originally formed by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, Songbird was one of the original Thunderbolts’ founding members. After a lengthy career filled with criminal activities and villainous deeds, she changed her ways. Distinguished by her supersonic abilities, Songbird is recognized for her striking white-and-black suit adorned with long, vibrant pink streaks in her hair – although Mel, as portrayed by Viswanathan, does not have the same hairstyle, other characteristics align well, particularly in light of Brian Chapek’s comments.

The scene after the end credits for the movie Thunderbolts foreshadows not only The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday, but also hints that one of the characters from Thunderbolts could potentially play a role in Doctor Doom’s schemes, as suggested by director Jake Schreier.

Schreier said to SFX, “Perhaps there are some small rocks or pebbles [winks]. I can’t predict how you’ll assess these stones. Remember the character we’re discussing, and consider the influence that power holds, which could shape future events. Since I’m not working on ‘Doomsday,’ I don’t have access to those details.

In the movie “Thunderbolts”, although Schreier didn’t explicitly name a character, his dialogue suggests that the character portrayed by Lewis Pullman, known as Bob or Sentry, is the one in question. Pullman took over the role from Steven Yeun, who unfortunately had to withdraw from filming. The movie has given fans only brief glimpses of Sentry through TV ads and trailers, with Marvel deliberately keeping Sentry shrouded in mystery by keeping him in the shadows. However, we did witness Sentry throwing Red Guardian out of a window at the Thunderbolts’ headquarters, which used to be the Avengers’ home, and seemingly causing harm to innocent people on the street as they ran.

Valentina proudly asserts that Sentry possesses greater power than all of the Avengers, making it an ideal weapon that Doctor Doom covets to wield.

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2025-05-05 18:10