Thunderbolts may tease Canada's most powerful superhero team

While the Thunderbolts lineup has been revealed, more anti-heroes and villains may make an appearance, which could help establish future MCU projects.

Not much is known about Marvel Studios' upcoming Thunderbolts project, but the highly anticipated crossover event could expand the MCU and introduce audiences to Canada's premier superhero team. In September 2022, Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Fitch revealed the lineup of the MCU's first thunderbolt team, including Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes and John Walker, among others. Called by Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. However, these might not be the only characters returning to Thunderbolts after appearing in previous MCU projects, a potential inclusion in the upcoming film that could open the door for future MCU projects.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law features many lesser-known Marvel Comics characters, including the Wrecking Crew from Episode 3 "The People vs. Emil Blonsky", a strange group of villains who attempt to use stolen Asgardian tools to attack Jennifer Walters. In the comics, the Wrecking Crew debuted in 1974's The Defenders #17, with founding members Wrecker and Thunderball incarcerated and teamed up with members including the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men in The Defenders #17. Team fights within. The team's MCU debut in She-Hulk could tease several storylines featuring the Wrecking Crew in the MCU.

How The Wrecking Crew Can Tie Into Thunderbolts And Alpha Flight

During the Civil War in 2006 The storyline is an epic crossover event in Marvel Comics, where Wreck Squad is forced to join Thunderbolt or risk an extended prison sentence. However, the wrecking crew didn't fit the team, escaping their new mission and fleeing to Canada to avoid the legislation of the Superhuman Registration Act, which was re-imagined in the MCU as the Sokovia Accords. Despite fleeing to avoid detection, the Wrecking Crew didn't exactly keep a low profile in Canada, as annoying cell phone ringing killed everyone in the bar, drawing the team's attention to Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.

Alpha Flight is a team of elite superheroes, including mutants, formed by the Canadian government's Department H, which monitors all superhuman activity in the country. If Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts shows Valentina trying to recruit the Wrecking Crew to join her inaugural Thunderbolts team, the project could also see the four members flee to Canada, potentially fighting the MCU's Alpha Flight in the future. Perhaps Alpha Flight's introduction to the MCU could be the first hint of a mutant team ahead of the MCU's official X-Men team debut, while the Wrecking Crew's appearance in Thunderbolts could be Start it all.

Why The MCU Thunderbolts May Avoid Recruiting Villains

The current MCU lineup of Thunderbolts features anti-heroes or reformed villains from several previous Marvel Studios projects, but none of the members are outright villains. This suggests that Valentina, and indeed the CIA, may not want to bring a villain into Thunderbolt. This could be to keep Thunderbolts from feeling too similar to DC's Suicide Squad, which featured villains teaming up to actually do some good, but it could also just be to keep the team from being too alienated in the MCU's public consciousness.

While this could mean that the Wrecking Crew might not appear in Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, Valentina still has a chance to get their hands on them, which could set them off to fight Alpha Flight. The further inclusion of the wrecking crew in the MCU would also add to their previous presence in She-Hulk: The Lawyer, which was quickly dismissed as a joke. By including more characters than the announced lineup, Thunderbolts could help the MCU expand even further.