Hot on the heels of Marvel Studios announcing its cast for the reboot of The Fantastic Four, the MCU's other blockbuster entry for next summer, Thunderbolts, made some news of its own. Marvel moved up the release date of Thunderbolts — to May 2, 2025 — while pushing back the opening for The Fantastic Four to July 25, 2025.

Thunderbolts was originally supposed to occupy the July release date, but must have made up time quicker than expected now that production is back in full swing, following the months-long Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes that delayed both films dramatically last year.

The scheduling update, posted on Instagram and reported on by Deadline, got lost in the shuffle a bit, with the excitement over the latest actor additions to the MCU — The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Mission: Impossible's Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and The Bear fan-favorite Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing).

 

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Still, the move is significant as Marvel Studios is desperate for a hit after a string of disappointing box office returns for recent MCU films.

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Thunderbolts will star Florence Pugh as Yelena, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Geraldine Viswanathan, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/ Ghost, and David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, and others.

Thunderbolts centers on a group of villains who are sent on missions commissioned by the government. As for The Fantastic Four, this will be its second franchise reboot — but its first under the umbrella of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Not counting the memorable cameo by The Office's John Krasinski as an alternate universe Mr. Fantastic in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; Krasinsksi won't be a part of the new film by the way).

The first theatrical version of The Fantastic Four, released in 2005, starred Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans and Jessica Alba in the lead roles. The next iteration starred Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell.

The newly announced cast clearly will have big shoes to fill, but Marvel Studios certainly sounds excited about the prospects for both Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four, with the scheduling shakeups feeling like an attempt to maximize the MCU's summer blockbuster potential.