Thunderbolts Stars Tease Missing MCU Character’s Return (But Where Did They Go?)

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Two stars from the movie “Thunderbolts“, Florence Pugh and David Harbour, who played Yelena Belova and Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian respectively, believe that Rachel Weisz’s character Melina Vostokoff, who was part of their family in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, should reappear. The movie “Thunderbolts” is set to hit theaters this week, where these outcast characters unite to face a new significant danger. They first appeared together in 2021’s “Black Widow”. Melina is noticeably absent from “Thunderbolts”, but Pugh and Harbour express their desire to see her return to the family.

The publication known as The Hollywood Reporter had a chat with both Florence Pugh and David Harbour regarding the upcoming movie titled “Thunderbolts”. They were curious to know more about the fate of Alexei and Melina following the movie “Black Widow”, with Harbour expressing his belief that Weisz’s character, Melina, holds great promise.

Melina’s whereabouts are unknown according to Pugh, with Harbour echoing the same sentiment, stating, ‘Indeed, we don’t know. I’ve discussed Melina with Marvel folks, and it seems there’s still a great deal of possibility for Melina.’ Later, Harbour disclosed that the film Black Widow originally included a romantic scene between Alexei and Melina, but due to Black Widow’s struggle against Taskmaster, the focus had to be on her instead.

However, I believe Melina could make a captivating return to the storyline, and it’d be delightful if she reappeared in Alexei’s life again. Her presence would certainly introduce an intriguing layer of complexity,” he noted.

In the upcoming film “Thunderbolts,” we’ll need to observe how they manage to bring back Red Guardian without Melina being involved. Previews for the movie suggest that Yelena pays a visit to her adoptive father, who appears to be living in poor conditions and neglecting himself. As of now, it remains unclear whether Red Guardian is residing with Melina or if she’s off on her own escapades.

Amidst the anticipation for Melina’s comeback, viewers have pointed out an intriguing absence in the Thunderbolts team from TV previews and trailers. A scene within the rebranded Avengers Tower, now called the Watchtower, noticeably lacked Taskmaster, who was earlier depicted inside the building with her fellow Thunderbolts members. Whether this is a mere oversight or another clever ploy by Marvel Studios to keep fans guessing remains uncertain. The rumor mill suggests that Taskmaster might not make it through the Thunderbolts movie, given that the actress portraying Taskmaster is not part of the cast returning for Avengers: Doomsday.

During an unusually turbulent period for Marvel Studios as well as the film industry at large, “Black Widow” was unveiled. With COVID-19 causing theater closures worldwide, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek opted to release the movie on Disney+ in a bid to increase subscriptions on the streaming platform. However, this decision led to a lawsuit by star Scarlett Johansson for breach of contract. Now, Scarlett and Disney have patched things up, with her even working on a highly confidential project that she is producing. Unfortunately, this project had to be put on hold due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes.

In 2024, Johansson expressed to The New York Times that he doesn’t bear a grudge. He believed it was a lapse in judgment and leadership at the time. To him, the entire situation felt very unprofessional. Honestly, he was extremely disappointed, particularly because he had been hoping for better outcomes until his team advised him to take action.

Johansson confirmed to ComicBook in 2023 that her secret project is still ongoing. However, it’s not active at the moment due to a writers’ strike and possibly their own guild strike. Essentially, they are all just waiting things out for now.

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2025-04-29 21:12