Thunderbolts* recap: which Marvel films and shows to watch first

Thunderbolts* reached theaters on May 2, 2025. Before it did, I put together a complete recap of the Marvel history behind it. That history runs through eleven films, more than 21 episodes spread across three series, and one Disney+ special. I know that sounds like a lot. But my view at the time was that Thunderbolts* stood on its own, and even if you hadn't seen every series, you would understand everything and enjoy it.

Thunderbolts* (2025) stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Sebastian Stan. I still thought a full guide would help people feel confident they weren't missing anything about these characters' stories. It had been four long years since John Walker met Val in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and since we last saw Yelena with Red Guardian and Black Widow.

Who is in the Thunderbolts* lineup

Thunderbolts* follows a team of antiheroes. The lineup is Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr, also known as Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster, Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko).

They are caught up in a plot involving Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, or Val, the mysterious CIA director played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. There is also a newcomer, Sentry, otherwise known as Bob Reynolds, played by Lewis Pullman. Because this story ties into the history of the super soldier program in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the best place to start the timeline is the very beginning.

Bucky Barnes from Captain America: The First Avenger to Civil War

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) is set in 1943. It introduces Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers' childhood friend from Brooklyn and his fellow soldier in the US Army during World War II. Steve receives a super serum and is used as a propaganda tool. Steve and Bucky fight side by side with the Howling Commandos, but Bucky falls from a train and appears to die.

Steve is frozen and thaws out in the modern era, which leads to The Avengers (2012). There, Steve helps Tony Stark, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton win the Battle of New York against Loki and the Chitauri. That victory cemented the Avengers as Earth's mightiest heroes and turned Stark Tower into Avengers Tower.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), we learn Bucky didn't die. Hydra recaptured him and injected him with a version of the super soldier serum, which kept him from aging. He was put under mind control with code words and became the metal armed assassin known as the Winter Soldier, who killed many targets through the 20th century. As the Winter Soldier, Bucky attacks Steve while Hydra tries to take over SHIELD and the US military. Steve fights Bucky to a draw and, with Natasha, Sam Wilson and Nick Fury, brings down Hydra's deadly helicarriers.

In Captain America: Civil War (2016), Bucky resurfaces as the Avengers debate the Sokovia Accords. Zemo frames Bucky for the assassination of T'Challa's father, which deepens the split into Team Cap and Team Iron Man. Steve refuses to give up on Bucky, and we discover that Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, killed Tony Stark's parents in 1991. That leads to a lopsided fight at Bucky's old facility in Siberia, where Bucky loses his metal arm. He survives alongside Steve, while Team Cap become fugitives. From that point on, the Avengers were officially disbanded.

Yelena, Red Guardian and Taskmaster in Black Widow

Technically, Black Widow (2021) takes place right after Civil War. But its story begins in Ohio, where Natasha Romanoff grew up with her adoptive sister, Yelena Belova, in a suburban family of Russian spies alongside Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). The family's cover is blown and they flee to Cuba to join Dreykov, while Natasha and Yelena are placed in Dreykov's Red Room program, which trains young Russian girls to become professional assassins.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) had hinted at Natasha's Red Room past. Painful memories triggered by Wanda Maximoff revealed that these girls went through brutal trials that required them to kill, followed by torture and even forced hysterectomies.

In Black Widow, Natasha is on the run from Thaddeus Ross after Civil War and reunites with Yelena. The two are hunted by a mysterious trainer with programming like the Terminator's, able to match every fighting move. They free Alexei from a Russian prison, and we learn that before he was a spy living undercover in Ohio, he was Red Guardian, the Soviet propaganda counterpart to Captain America, who peaked in the 1980s. They reunite with Melina, and Alexei gets his old suit back. The film gives Yelena moving moments where she admits that this Ohio family, though not her real one, is the only family she has, and that her sisterhood with Natasha is sacred to her.

The family discovers the Red Room is a base floating in the sky. Taskmaster turns out to be Antonia Dreykov, the daughter Loki taunted Natasha about in The Avengers. That jab referred to an earlier Budapest mission when Natasha bombed Dreykov's home, believing both he and Antonia were dead. Natasha realizes Dreykov is alive and running the Red Room, and that Antonia is behind the Taskmaster identity. She uses an antidote to free the other Widows from mind control, Antonia included, as the Red Room crashes. A post credits scene shows Yelena at Natasha's grave in the present, after Natasha's death in Avengers: Endgame. Yelena now works as a hired killer for Val, and her new target is Clint Barton, whom she believes is responsible for Natasha's death.

Ghost's origin in Ant-Man and the Wasp, plus Infinity War and Endgame

That takes us back to Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Thanos' forces attack Earth in search of the Infinity Stones, and the Avengers join Bucky in Wakanda, where he now has a new black vibranium arm. Thanos gets all the stones and snaps, erasing half of all life, including Bucky and, as we later learn in Hawkeye, Yelena Belova.

Running alongside Infinity War is Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), which introduces Ava Starr, also known as Ghost. Ava was the daughter of Elihas Starr, a former SHIELD scientist who built his own quantum tunnel. It exploded, killing him and infusing young Ava with quantum energy that made her body phase through surfaces at random. SHIELD took Ava in, Bill Foster gave her a suit suited to her powers, and she was trained as a SHIELD agent.

After SHIELD collapsed, Foster took Ava with him and had to keep her in a room in his house to stop her body from fading away. In that film, Foster and Ava try to steal Hank Pym's shrunken lab, hoping to use quantum energy from the tunnel to cure Ava. When Scott, Hank and Hope free Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm, Janet uses her quantum healing energy to treat Ava. Ava and Bill Foster then escape, and that was the last we saw of them.

In Avengers: Endgame (2019), the Avengers pull off a time heist that costs Natasha her life, and they use the stones to bring everyone back. That includes Sam Wilson, the first returning Avenger Steve hears say "on your left," and it means Bucky's return too. The film ends with an elderly Steve handing his shield to Sam with Bucky's blessing.

John Walker and Val in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

That leads to the first Disney+ series on this list, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Bucky is in therapy, trying to make amends with the people he hurt as the Winter Soldier. He ends up teaming with Sam Wilson against the Flag Smashers, a militant group that stole and enhanced the super soldier serum. Bucky is still in touch with Wakanda, and we learn he had help recovering psychologically from the Winter Soldier trigger words.

Bucky and Sam are forced to work with the government's new Captain America, John Walker, and his friend Lemar Hoskins. John takes the super soldier serum and becomes somewhat aggressive in his hunt for the Flag Smashers. When one of them kills Lemar, John loses control and violently kills that person with the Captain America shield.

That gets John dishonorably discharged, and Val approaches him, offering a new dark tactical suit and a job working for her. John still rejoins Bucky and Sam to defeat the Flag Smashers, and Sam officially becomes the new Captain America.

Yelena hunts Clint Barton in Hawkeye

In Hawkeye (2021), Clint Barton spends Christmas in New York mentoring Kate Bishop and facing old enemies from his time as the assassin Ronin during the Blip. The series reveals that someone bought Avengers Tower, without saying who.

Yelena catches up with Clint and tries to kill him in a fierce four way rooftop fight involving Clint, Yelena, Kate Bishop and Maya Lopez, also known as Echo. Yelena spends the series up against Kate, and helps her realize that the person who ordered the hit on Clint was Kate's mother, Eleanor Bishop, who works for Wilson Fisk. Yes, Yelena's storyline brought Kingpin back into the MCU.

Yelena nearly kills Clint in the 30 Rock fight, but Clint uses the distinctive whistle we saw tied to Natasha and Yelena's childhood in Ohio. Yelena realizes Natasha and Clint shared a special sibling bond, and she backs off.

Val, Bucky's arm and the Avengers rebuild

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), we learned that Val is the CIA director in the MCU and that she is eager to get her hands on Wakanda and its vibranium. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) on Disney+ is worth mentioning for one reason only: Nebula gives Rocket Bucky's vibranium arm as a Christmas present, a nod to Rocket wanting to steal that arm in Infinity War. At the time, it wasn't clear how Nebula got the arm or how Bucky got it back for Thunderbolts*, but he did.

In Captain America: Brave New World (2025), President Thaddeus Ross, now played by Harrison Ford, asks Sam Wilson to rebuild the Avengers while Ross pursues a global treaty on adamantium. This is set in 2027, which was the MCU's current year at the time. Bucky appears in the film, and we learned there that he had been elected to the US House of Representatives. President Ross is targeted by the returning villain Samuel Sterns, who manipulates him into transforming into Red Hulk, and Sam manages to calm him down. Ross is imprisoned on the Raft, and Sam and Joaquin Torres are left with the job of rebuilding the Avengers.

Why Daredevil: Born Again and What If mattered for Thunderbolts*

Also in 2025, the first season of Daredevil: Born Again aired. It ended with Mayor Wilson Fisk exploiting an assassination attempt to justify a curfew in New York City, running it as his own police state through his sinister task force against vigilantes. Meanwhile, Daredevil was building his own army of vigilantes to take the city back in season two.

I brought that one up because we knew part of Thunderbolts* would take place in New York City, so it helped to know where the city stood. Specifically, we knew from the trailers that Avengers Tower would return in this film. Val and her organization were the ones who bought the tower, and they were turning it into what would become the Sentry's Watchtower, as in the comics.

Another title I thought might be relevant was What If...? season 3, episode 3, "What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" It takes place in an alternate universe where Alexei stops Bucky from killing Tony Stark's parents in 1991. That sends the two on a road trip west to find the person Hydra was working with, known as the Rook, who turns out to be Obadiah Stane. That story isn't part of MCU continuity, but the strong brotherly bond between Bucky and Alexei is clear there.

Where each Thunderbolts* character stood before the film

Yelena was still working for Val, who besides being CIA director had some connection to an organization called OXE, or the Ox Group. Bucky Barnes was by then a congressman representing a Brooklyn district. Based on the trailers, Alexei appeared to be working as a driver for a Red Guardian limousine company while living a comfortable life. John Walker was also working for Val. Ava Starr had gained control of her phasing powers and appeared to be working independently. Taskmaster was a freed Widow with a past connection to Yelena.

Then there's Bob, played by Lewis Pullman. In the comics, Bob Reynolds is a character with some mental health struggles and long stretches of memory loss. He discovers he is a super soldier with superpowers, and he is tied to a cosmic entity known as the Void, which some comics interpretations suggest may just be a manifestation of his dark thoughts.

Thunderbolts* looked closest to the Dark Reign era of the comics

Before release, it was clear the Thunderbolts in this film were not built around Thunderbolt Ross. Their connection to the Thunderbolts team Baron Zemo led in the comics appeared very weak. Different Thunderbolts lineups have appeared over decades of Marvel comics, though, including the one the film seemed inspired by during the Dark Reign era. But instead of Norman Osborn leading the team, it looked like CIA director Val would be the one in charge.

Beyond that, the only other thing to know at the time was that The Fantastic Four: First Steps was next on the MCU release slate. It is set in an alternate universe, and with every teaser it seemed closer to a disaster movie.

The Beef team behind Thunderbolts*

The Thunderbolts* marketing included a Red Guardian limousine bit, and Marvel sent a Red Guardian limo driver our way with a special delivery. The package held a QR code that led to a promo for Red Guardian Limousine Service, pitching a mighty fleet of two cars for business trips, school pickups, fancy funerals and regular funerals, along with a large stack of business cards.

If you have the time, I recommend checking out the work of the talented team behind this film: director Jake Schreier, co writer Joanna Calo and editor Harry Yoon. All three previously worked on Netflix's Beef. Before release, Beef looked thematically close to what Thunderbolts* seemed to be trying to do, based on the film's very fun marketing campaign, which included a teaser made by A24 that billed it as great cinema.