Thunderbolts Week: Ranking Leaders Like Lightning
by Tony Thornley
One of the most interesting things about the incredibly diverse types of teams that have used the name Thunderbolts is the dynamic leaders the franchise has used. So we decided to take a look at them and rank them through the years.
10. MACH-V
Abe Jenkins is one of the team’s longest serving members. He also struck a deal with Baron Strucker to fund the team at the beginning of New Thunderbolts. The whole point of the story was the Abe wasn’t the best leader, but the guy betrayed the team before they were a team. He’s one of the best members, but one of the worst leaders.
9. Red Hulk
Thunderbolt Ross is a great character. The Red Hulk was a fantastic growth for him. His era of Thunderbolts was barely a blip on the radar. There’s just not a ton to say here about his time leading the team. Legitimately though, the movie would probably be significantly better with Thunderbolt Ross leading the team.
8. Taskmaster
Technically the leader of the Dark Reign era Thunderbolts, Taskmaster is never a good leader. He’s too out for himself to be a leader. He was fine, but not anything better than that.
7. USAgent
John Walker slipped into the leadership role of the Raft version of the team just before that came to an end. Considering Walker is a more cynical, brutal version of Captain America, it could have been interesting to see him leading reformed villains, but unfortunately the series transformed into the second volume of Dark Avengers and then was cancelled a short while later. He also led Fisk’s team of Thunderbolts, and was a massive jerk perfectly in character with his history.
6. Songbird
Melissa Gold is probably the greatest member of the Thunderbolts. The former Master of Evil once known as Screaming Mimi grew from a timid former villain sidekick into one of the most noble heroes of the Marvel Universe. She’s even destined to become an Avenger someday (hopefully soon). After Abe’s betrayal of the team was revealed, she took over. Though her tenure was short, she proved to be a capable and intelligent leader, and a truly heroic presence. There’s a reason why she was the moral conscience of Osborn’s team and Luke Cage’s deputy leader during their tenures.
5. Norman Osborn
Norman wasn’t the Green Goblin during his time as the Thunderbolts’ leader. He was worse. He was an amoral bureaucrat who did whatever he needed to do to accomplish his goals. He didn’t kill the Skrull empress out of motivation to do the right thing. He did it because he knew it would gain him power. Every step he took preceding that accomplished that same goal, and all while using the team as his ultimate tool to get it done.
4. Luke Cage
From 2005 until about 2016, Luke Cage was pulled up from character limbo and became one of Marvel’s A-list. He showed that physical power alone wasn’t enough to command respect. He served as a hero through compassion and activism. It’s weird that he was essentially a prison warden as Thunderbolts leader, but he was damn good at leading the team.
3. Citizen V/Baron Zemo
Zemo is one of the greatest evils in the Marvel Universe. He nearly took over the world using the Thunderbolts. If they hadn’t remained on the path of angels, he might have won. Sure, he was an evil fascist (and maybe a Nazi depending on who’s writing him), but he was a master planner, strategist and leader. We’re glad he lost though.
2. Winter Soldier
Bucky Barnes has transformed in the last twenty years from Marvel’s ultimate cautionary tales to one of the most fascinating heroes in the pantheon. Whether he’s leading a team of former Masters of Evil while trying to stop alien threats or organizing a revolution against some of the deepest and most evil threats to the planet, it’s a hell of a read. He’s almost become as synonymous with the Thunderbolts name as any member of the original team.
1. Hawkeye
Here’s the thing about Clint Barton. There’s about a half dozen Marvel characters who could take any random group of characters and turn them into an honest to goodness superhero team. Hawkeye is at the top of that list. If he had not assumed leadership of the Thunderbolts, there’s no way the team could have held it together. And he’s returned to the squad multiple times, becoming the icon of the Thunderbolts, to the point that his absence from the movie is pretty glaring. He is the team, and without him, they’d just be a bunch of bad guys.