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Florence Pugh on Yelena Belova’s Evolution in THUNDERBOLTS*: “She’s a Completely Different Person”
Yelena Belova has had a particularly rough journey in the MCU. Raised in a sleeper cell family, trained as a killer from childhood, and then wiped out of existence for five years, only to return and find her sister, Natasha Romanoff, dead. That’s a lot of trauma, the kind that could break a person. Now, in Thunderbolts*, she’s not exactly finding solace but rather joining a team of anti-heroes, outcasts, and government clean-up jobs.Florence Pugh, who reprises her role as the assassin, recently teaseed a Yelena who’s been deeply shaped by the weight of her past. Speaking with Empire, Pugh describes the version of Yelena we’ll meet in Thunderbolts* as someone who’s been through hell and back.“She’s a completely different person to the person that you’d assume she would be,” Pugh says. “She’s coming out of a few years of quite traumatic events. Where does that leave a person?”She finds herself landing in a squad that’s just as and dysfunctional. Alongside Yelena are Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as The Sentry, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.Russell, for his part, is thrilled about Walker’s return. U.S. Agent was last seen in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, but now he’s back and Russell had some things to say about his return and his new costume.“We look f*cking cool. And last time, I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think I looked very cool. [This time] they made my helmet not look like the end of a penis.”The plot summary reads: “A world without Avengers doesn't mean there's not a group of superheroes. There is a group and they're called the Thunderbolts. A group of supervillains from the MCU are recruited to go on missions for the government.”The film is being directed by Jake Schreier (Paper Towns, Kidding) and was written by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow) and Kurt Busiek. Thunderbolts* is currently set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.
Yelena Belova has had a particularly rough journey in the MCU. Raised in a sleeper cell family, trained as a killer from childhood, and then wiped out of existence for five years, only to return and find her sister, Natasha Romanoff, dead.
That’s a lot of trauma, the kind that could break a person. Now, in Thunderbolts*, she’s not exactly finding solace but rather joining a team of anti-heroes, outcasts, and government clean-up jobs.
Florence Pugh, who reprises her role as the assassin, recently teaseed a Yelena who’s been deeply shaped by the weight of her past.
Speaking with Empire, Pugh describes the version of Yelena we’ll meet in Thunderbolts* as someone who’s been through hell and back.
“She’s a completely different person to the person that you’d assume she would be,” Pugh says. “She’s coming out of a few years of quite traumatic events. Where does that leave a person?”
She finds herself landing in a squad that’s just as and dysfunctional. Alongside Yelena are Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as The Sentry, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.
Russell, for his part, is thrilled about Walker’s return. U.S. Agent was last seen in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, but now he’s back and Russell had some things to say about his return and his new costume.
“We look f*cking cool. And last time, I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think I looked very cool. [This time] they made my helmet not look like the end of a penis.”
The plot summary reads: “A world without Avengers doesn't mean there's not a group of superheroes. There is a group and they're called the Thunderbolts. A group of supervillains from the MCU are recruited to go on missions for the government.”
The film is being directed by Jake Schreier (Paper Towns, Kidding) and was written by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow) and Kurt Busiek.
Thunderbolts* is currently set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.
