“I want to make a Marvel movie,” says Steven Yeun after leaving Thunderbolts

“It took a lot of draft emails to make sure I conveyed the sincerity of my regret at having to step down.”

The much awaited and very late Thunderboltsthe next Marvel team-up film bringing together a band of anti-heroes united for better and for worse has just lost a member of its cast. The Hollywood Reporter announces that Steven Yeunwho gives his voice to the protagonist of the animated series Invincible, will not star in the film. A few weeks ago, the creator of the original comic Robert Kirkman had spilled the beans by revealing that the actor was doing costume tests to play the superhero Sentry in Thunderbolts.

Steven Yeun gave the reasons for his departure in a recent interview with Variety : “I think for me, the passage of time and things changing has kind of taken me out of the project (…) But Jake (Schreier), I know he will do an incredible job” declares the actor. He is referring in particular to the unforeseen events caused by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which enormously delayed the filming of Thunderbolts.

Moreover, Steven Yeun had a busy year between her starring role in the A24 miniseries Relentlesswhich earned him several nominations, followed by season 2 ofInvincible released recently on Amazon Prime Video. “I want to make a Marvel movie” he added, “It took a lot of draft emails to make sure I conveyed the sincerity of my regret at having to step down.“

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The actor therefore does not give up on his integration into the MCU, but does not mention specific films or characters: “I have some ideas, but I’ve heard that if you talk about it you’ll never get it, so I’m keeping them to myself.“Besides, he is not fooled by the cold that his withdrawal may have caused between Marvel and him:”I probably pissed off a lot of people by withdrawing so I’m just going to say ‘Thanks for having me‘”.

Apart from this change, the starting cast remains: Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, David Harbor, Wyatt Russell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olga Kurylenko And Hannah John-Kamen will reprise their roles already introduced in previous MCU films or series. Harrison Ford will make his Marvel debut as General Thaddeus Ross, aka the Red Hulk.

Thunderbolts will be carried out by Jake Schreier and written by Lee Sung-jinthe duo having already collaborated on Relentless. The film plans to hit theaters on July 23, 2025.

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