The 2025 summer movie season is poised to kick off on a much stronger note than last year, thanks to Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts,’ which is set to hit theaters the first weekend of May. Despite the high expectations, the antihero ensemble film faces some challenges.

Early box office tracking suggests the film is on course to earn between $63 million and $77 million in its domestic debut, aiming for a $70 million opening. While that’s a solid figure overall, it lands on the lower end of the spectrum for a summer-opening Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) release.

Disney sources are optimistic, pointing to the fact that ‘Thunderbolts’ introduces a new team of antiheroes and villains to the big screen — characters who are not yet widely recognized by mainstream audiences. This lack of familiarity may be contributing to slower-than-expected advance ticket sales, which began earlier this week. However, the studio remains optimistic, noting strong early reactions from select preview audiences and theater owners who viewed exclusive footage recently at CinemaCon.

Adding momentum to the film’s launch, Marvel recently announced that many characters from ‘Thunderbolts’ will also appear in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ generating additional buzz.

With three weeks to go until release, Disney’s powerhouse marketing machine is just getting warmed up. The movie features an ensemble cast including Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Marvel’s official synopsis describes the film as follows: “Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova (Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Stan), Red Guardian (Shostakov), Ghost (John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Kurylenko)and John Walker (Russell). After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Dreyfuss), these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?”

To set ‘Thunderbolts’ apart from typical MCU fare, Marvel and Disney are highlighting the indie credentials of the creative team. The film is helmed by Jake Schreier, known for directing the A24-backed Netflix series ‘Beef.’

Florence Pugh described the movie in an interview with Empire magazine as “this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes.”

Schreier echoed that sentiment; “There’s a certain amount of that ‘Beef’ tone in it, that does feel different,” the director noted. “There’s an emotional darkness that we brought to this that is resonant, but doesn’t come at the expense of comedy.”

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