Warning: Spoilers for Thunderbolts* (2025)!The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest movie,Thunderbolts*, has turned the title team into a household name. The central super-team has existed in Marvel Comics for the better part of 28 years, but only just made its onscreen debut in 2025. Miraculously, despite being a more obscure name, the adaptation has proved to be a hit, even ifthe term “adaptation” can be used pretty loosely here.
The MCU’s adaptations are usually loose, often taking liberties with the source material. Some changes are for the better, while others show theMCU not understanding characters like the Avengers. Ultimately, that’s simply the nature of adapting anything from page to screen. Not everything is going to translate into live-action form, and so to make it work, once-pivotal storyline details must be changed. This is often the case with the MCU, and is particularly the case with theThunderbolts* franchise, withsomemajorchanges from the comics…
10The Red Guardian Is Black Widow’s Ex-Husband in the Comics
Their Familial Relationship Is Different from the MCU
In the movies, Red Guardian is Black Widow’s father figure - a development that gave comic fans the ick when it was first revealed. That’s because in the comics,Red Guardian is Black Widow’s vengeful ex-husbandand one of her recurring villains. When Natasha defected from Soviet Russia, Red Guardian remained loyal to his native country, turning him into a frequent antagonist to both Nat and the Avengers.
Red Guardian has tried to kill Natasha multiple times, frequently clarifying that hereallyhates his ex. Following David Harbour’s lovable portrayal of Red Guardian in the MCU, the comic version decided to seek redemption, joining thelatest incarnation of the Thunderboltsalongside Bucky and Natasha.
9Taskmaster Is Very Different in the Comics
The Movies Ignored 90% of What Makes Taskmaster Great
While Taskmaster fans were sad to see Antonia Dreykov killed off before formally joining the Thunderbolts, die-hard fans may have been even more upset to see the MCU make such astounding changes from the comics version. By comparison, theMCU Taskmaster is literally a completely different characterfrom the Taskmaster who debuted on-panel in 1980. Onscreen, audiences met Antonia as the vengeful daughter of one of Black Widow’s targets during her time with the Red Room.
In the comics, Taskmaster is a former SHIELD agent named Tony Masterswhose abilities allow him to perfectly mimic someone else’s maneuvers and mannerisms just by watching them once. He was born with these abilities, and he enhanced them himself using an experimental Super-Soldier serum, destroying his long-term memory. Taskmaster is one of Marvel’s greatest combatants, but has severe memory problems and a sardonic sense of humor, working for both heroes and villains when the price is right. He also has a daughter in young hero Finesse, although because of his memory issues, he’s not totally sure they’re related.
8Ghost Is a Totally Different Character
The Comic Villain Is an Anti-Corporate Activist Who Hates Iron Man
As MCU fans first saw inAnt-Man and The Wasp, Ghost is Ava Starr, a woman who suffers from a molecular disequilibrium that renders her intangible almost at random. Her suit was created for her by S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to stabilize her powers. She isn’t given a cure until meeting Janet van Dyne. In the comics,the opposite is the case, in that the suit gives the villain their powers, rather than stabilizing what already exists.
While his name remains a mystery,the comics version of Ghost is an extreme anti-corporate terrorist who believes he’s making the world a better placeby taking out billionaires like Tony Stark. A genius hacker, Ghost has a serious hygiene problem and a unique moral outlook that has seen him turn against villains and help out heroes whenever it aligns with his larger goals. Ultimately, Ghost sees himself as a lone wolf who will allow teams like the Thunderbolts to recruit him if that makes it easier to target big business.
7Yelena Belova’s Character Is Drastically Different in the Comics
She Was Originally a Truly Vicious Villain
ThroughoutThunderbolts*, Yelena Belova’s personality is on full display. She’s often sarcastic with a hint of deadpan humor to mask the darkness she’s going through. Being so emotive and expressive has been largely consistent with Yelena’s portrayal since her first in-universe appearance inBlack Widow. While it fits in line with the tone of the MCU overall, it doesn’t align with her character as she appears in the original Marvel Comics. On Earth-616, Yelena was originally stone-cold and calculated.
This is largely becauseYelena was always a villainin Marvel continuity- she even voluntarily became a literal monster after gaining the powers of theSuper-Adaptoid to fight the Sentry. Of course, on the heels of her MCU popularity, Marvel has essentially retconned Yelena into a totally new person, with recent stories turning her into a far sassier hero.
6Black Widow and White Widow Have a Different Relationship
The MCU Lets Yelena Be Black Widow’s Funny Sister, Not Her Nemesis
In the movies,the relationship between Yelena Belova and Natasha Romanoff is that of a found family dynamic. Essentially, they are adopted sisters whoboth endured the Red Roomand through their experiences became immensely close to one another. Her bond with Black Widow largely built the foundation of Yelena’s transformation from assassin to superhero. This is not the case in the comics, where Yelena Belova and Natalia Romanova were both members of the Red Room until Nat defected. Yelena later became obsessed with Nat while she was being groomed for the position of new Black Widow.
Out of this obsession,Yelena outright hated Black Widow. Up until recently, Yelena was always more of a villainous mirror image of Nat’s evil potential than anything else. Of course, following her MCU popularity, Marvel has retconned Yelena into the ‘sister’ movie fans know, even subtly de-aging her to fit the same dynamic.
5The MCU Made Some Slight But Significant Alterations to Sentry’s Origin Story
Sentry’s origins in comic and movieform differ in substantial ways. To the MCU’s credit, they do adapt the complicated anti-hero to the best of their ability, but due to the short- vs long-form differences between ongoing comics and a standalone movie, theMCU offers a more simplified version. InThunderbolts*, the meth-addicted Robert Reynolds leaves the country in search of drugs when he’s approached by O.X.E. to partake in an experiment that promises to help him reach his best self. Hoping to be better, he agrees and takes part in Project Sentry, giving him his powers.
In the movie, volunteering to change is an admission that Bob at least wants to try to kick his habit, but in the comics, his addiction is the source of his superpowers.
In the comics, Bob’s addictions get the better of him when he breaks into a lab in search of drugs and stumbles upon what he thinks is an experimental new intoxicant. He consumes the Sentry Serum, changing his life forever. In the movie, volunteering to change is an admission that Bob at least wants totryto kick his habit, but in the comics, the scene is used to emphasize thatBob stumbled into his godlike statusand was never ready for the consequences.
4U.S. Agent Isn’t a Super-Soldier in the Comics
He Gets His Enhancements By Another Means
Unlike most of his teammates, John Walker is actually one of the more faithful characters adapted in the MCU. The Marvel Cinematic Universe establishes the baseline of John Walker’s comics story as a failed Captain America whose mistakes get him ostracized by the public, transforming him into U.S. Agent. However, in the comics he was never an actual Super Soldier, but a pretender all along.
In the comics, John receives his superhuman strength and endurance from someone referring to themselves as the Power Broker - a villain who offers superhuman abilities for a price. The Power Broker is used to show thatJohn wasneverworthy to replace Steve Rogers, and has become a recurring presence in his stories, often manipulating U.S. Agent to their own ends.
3Bucky’s Age and Origin Story are Different
The MCU Paves a Different Path for Bucky
When it comes to the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes is one of the more faithful page-to-screen adaptations the MCU has committed to. Both portray him as being the long-presumed-dead ally of Captain America made into a mind-controlled turncoat by Steve Rogers' enemies. However, when readers delve deeper into Bucky’s origin story, the differences become far more pronounced. The most glaring difference is in age, as in the comics,Bucky meets Steve as a teenager during the war,serving as Steve’s sidekick for propaganda purposes. Meanwhile,Captain America: The First Avengerestablishes Bucky and Steve being childhood friends around the same age.
That’s not all, asBucky’s origins as the Winter Soldiersee him transformed and experimented on by Soviet Russia. In movie form, the experimentation and brainwashing remain the same, but HYDRA is the culprit. In the comics,Bucky became Captain Americaafter Steve Rogers was presumed dead, trying to live up to his mentor’s legacy.
2Baron Zemo Created the Thunderbolts, Not Val
The Thunderbolts Have a Different Founder in the Comics
CIA directorValentina Allegra De La Fontaine(or simply Val) is the reason for bringing together the MCU’s Thunderbolts. In the movie, she separately recruits each member of the team for the same mission solely with the intention of trapping them to kill them all at once, erasing all evidence of her wrong-doing.
In the comics,the Thunderbolts are assembled by Baron Zemo, better known as one of Captain America’s archrivals. There, they’re all ex-supervillains who are explicitly fooling the public during a time when the Avengers are believed dead, pretending to be a new generation of heroes. Eventually, several members decide they actually do want to repent - much to Zemo’s chagrin. Thanks to his sense of ownership over the team, Zemo has been their biggest recurring villain, often trying to seize back control of the Thunderbolts name.
1The Supervillain Avengers Formed Under Norman Osborn, Not Val
The Thunderbolts Evolved into Green Goblin’s Dark Avengers
The idea of a supervillain squad that eventually becomes a government-sanctioned Avengers squad didn’t originate inThunderbolts*, but inDark Avengers, where Norman Osborn formulated his own team of villains-as-superheroes. Similar to Val, Norman Osborn uses his revamped Avengers to manipulate the public and warp the media. The biggest difference is thatwhile Val’s New Avengers fall into her lap, the H.A.M.M.E.R. director is far more deliberate in his attemptto steal the Avengers' legacy.
Osborn recruits heinous supervillains and has them don classic superhero personas to win over the public, bringing over several of his Thunderbolts in the process. Bullseye becomes Hawkeye, Scorpion becomes Spider-Man, and Daken becomes Wolverine. Then,Sentry’s darkest attributes sprinkle inthe finishing touch. This team of so-called heroes had no aspirations to be good, happy to stay bad to the bone. The Dark Avengers were noThunderbolts, and certainly no New Avengers.
