Thunderbolts: David Harbour on his hopes for Red Guardian

After making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Widow, David Harbour is set to reprise his role of Red Guardian for the upcoming Thunderbolts movie, and he couldn’t be more excited.

“I really like him,” said David Harbour of his character to Total Film, “and I love Florence [Pugh] as Yelena [also in Thunderbolts]. And then you throw in Wyatt [Russell, as U.S. Agent] from Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Sebastian [Stan, reprising Bucky Barnes]. You have all these great, colorful characters. I’m really excited for that movie.” As the MCU looks to keep on trucking for the foreseeable future, Harbour is eager to keep playing Red Guardian for as long as they’ll let him. “I love Red Guardian,” Harbour said. “I can’t wait to pull back the layers. The great thing about him is that he’s not very well-defined in the comics, like some of the other Marvel superheroes. So we can play with him in a different way, and be surprising and unexpected.“

The main cast of the Thunderbolts movie was announced at D23, and in addition to David Harbour returning as Red Guardian, the movie will also feature Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/US Agent, Hannah John Kamen as Ghost, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Harrison Ford will also appear as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, with the actor taking over the role played by the late William Hurt. Ford’s first appearance as Ross will actually take place in Captain America: New World Order, which will be released several months before Thunderbolts.

The Thunderbolts movie is set to be directed by Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank), with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) penning the script. Thunderbolts will hit theaters on July 26, 2024.