Marvel’s Mightiest Anti-Heroes Assemble In June’s ‘New Thunderbolts*’
by Tony Thornley
Marvel’s most unconventional team is getting a huge spotlight this year thanks to their first film. In June, an unexpected new team takes on the familiar name in New Thunderbolts*.
Written by Sam Humphries in his first Marvel work in nearly a decade, and drawn by rising star Ton Lima, New Thunderbolts* sees the Winter Soldier and Black Widow leading a hard hitting new team. When the duo discovers a massive threat to the entire Marvel Universe, they act fast to stop it. That means gathering a team of the universe’s most unexpected, and dangerous, loose cannons, loners and anti-heroes to stop it — Hulk, Clea, Namor, Wolverine, and Carnage?!
“I love every iteration of Thunderbolts,” Humphries said. “I’m thrilled to continue the franchise’s proud tradition of hard hitting action, powder keg personalities, and explosive surprises into a new era. This is a gang of seven of the biggest badasses and loose cannons from different corners of the Marvel Universe. Assembling a super team is like inviting the right combination of guests to a dinner party. So I imagined a dangerous, disastrous, unhinged Marvel dinner party, and went with that.”
“I’m having a blast working on this book with Mr. Humphries and the team,” Lima shared. “Look at this lineup … it’s crazy. They’re not here to talk; they jump straight to the action! And that’s the most fun part to draw. None of them are known for taking it easy on the job, so I can’t either.”
I’ll be honest. As a huge fan of the original incarnation of Thunderbolts — a team of villains pretending to be heroes as a plot to take over the world — I don’t love Marvel’s shift to using the name for a Suicide Squad style black ops team. And one of my personal hallmarks for Thunderbolts as a concept is in a twist- the best incarnations have featured a massive twist like the original “these guys are actually the Masters of Evil!” of the first volume.
That said, there’s something very unique about this squad that I have to admit I’m very interested in. Bucky and Nat leading a team on its own is a lot of fun. The character mix here is kind of electric. It’s very Defenders-esque (particularly with Namor, Hulk and Clea Strange in the mix). The addition of the new Eddie Brock incarnation of Carnage catches my interest, and seeing Laura Kinney dipping her toes into the wider Marvel Universe is actually a great prospect.
Add Humphries’ very character centric writing style I think I’m sold. Humphries’ Dial H revival at DC is one of my favorite series of the last decade, and this will definitely prompt me to revisit it.
Check out the series’ first revealed covers by Stephen Segovia and Mark Bagley and watch for New Thunderbolts in June from Marvel Comics.
