Daniel Brühl, who played Baron Zemo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, has responded to fan theories that he’ll show up in Thunderbolts.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Brühl pointed out that he couldn’t have been on the Thunderbolts set, as its filming conflicted with his schedule. He also admitted to some confusion about the interlocking arcs of the MCU and doubt about what he was allowed to reveal. “It’s always a delicate subject matter of what can you say? What can you not say?” he said. “It’s such a complex universe, as you know, that I only understand maybe 1% of it.”
The door is still open for Zemo to appear in another MCU project, however. “There’s certain opportunities for you, there’s certain constellations where you might be part of more than in others,” said Brühl. “But it’s all a big if and a question mark.” The actor is not unwilling to reprise his reformed villain character: “And [if] destiny brings Zemo back sometime again, I would probably not say no.”
Who will be part of the Thunderbolts cast?
Thunderbolts will star David Harbour as Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster. Each actor is reprising a character with a questionable history who appeared in a prior MCU project and now must work together as a team.
Additionally, Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the film following February 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World, while Ayo Edebiri has been cast in an undisclosed role. It was recently revealed that Steven Yeun, known for The Walking Dead and Invincible, will play Sentry in Thunderbolts. The film is directed by Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin.
Thunderbolts is scheduled to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
