The creative team of writer Jim Zub and artist Jon Malin are officially bringing the Thunderbolts back for Marvel. This time, with the Winter Soldier leading the team.
The idea behind Thunderbolts has shifted around a bit since the initial formation of the team back in the late ‘90s, but the idea remains fairly consistent across several incarnation: a team of supervillains looking for redemption - with varying levels of success. Though kind of a mess, the original Civil War event-era Thunderbolts team was probably the last truly interesting run.
Here’s how Marvel describes the upcoming series:
From the ashes of AVENGERS: STANDOFF, the Winter Soldier assembles the original Thunderbolts – Moonstone, the Fixer, MACH-V, Atlas and a mysterious new character for a dangerous new mission. One that will put them at the forefront and in the crosshairs of the Marvel Universe!
“These characters have done very bad things—willingly,” artist Jon Malin states in a Marvel article about the new series. “No one mind controlled them, they made choices of their own free will and that can never be fully taken back. That motivates me beyond belief to tell this story.”
As noted above, the team comes together at or around the end of the upcoming Avengers: Standoff event, and it’s currently unclear exactly how all that pans out. So, as to the why and how that the group forms, and what the Winter Soldier is doing leading the pack - who knows. But with several potentially at-odds personalities in the mix, things are sure to be tense.
Or, as Jim Zub says in the Marvel article, “Doing the right thing is different than being ‘good.’”
