Instead of the usual Avengers adventure, MCU Phase 5 is set to conclude with Thunderbolts in 2024. While it is another superhero team-up movie, the Thunderbolts are supposed to be a different kind of team. A bit of a switch, the Thunderbolts were Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad, and ever since their introduction in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk #449, the team has always been composed of villains. Although the team doesn’t have fundamental members like Iron Man or Thor for the Avengers, the seven confirmed members of the MCU’s Thunderbolts offer great insight into the team and will be compared to the MCU Avengers team pre-Endgame.

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Even though the Thunderbolts are commonly considered the Anti-Avengers in terms of tone and morality, the teams are definitely not of the same caliber when referring to power and following. A close look shows that the teams may find that they have more similarities than previously believed, but they can never be the same.

Both the Avengers and Thunderbolts Have Repented Villains

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The Avengers and the Thunderbolts actually share a famous character, Bucky Barnes, A.K.A. The Winter Soldier, whose actor has displayed gratitude for being free from the shadow of Sam Wilson/Falcon’s wings.

Both teams also have more redeemed villains. On the Avengers are Hawkeye and Black Widow, on the Thunderbolts, Ghost and White Widow, and more. Although given the character of the team, it is doubtful that the Thunderbolts have entirely left their past behind them. Bucky may still deal with the trauma of forced-mercenary actions as the Winter Soldier, and other members also deal with moral issues.

Also, what may be one of the most noticeable differences, the Thunderbolts’ less-than-perfect morality may determine their methods and probably wouldn’t garner approval from the likes of Captain America.

The Thunderbolts Work for the Government

The mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has been revealed as the director of the CIA in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and has been working closely with future members of the Thunderbolts for a long time now, including Yelena Belova/White Widow and John Walker/U.S. Agent, likely to get in contact with the rest soon.

Yet, instead of being a villain building a personal hit team, as previously theorized, we can now infer that Val is actually trying to bring together a group of remarkable people, as Nick Fury once did with the Avengers. And based on the team’s morality, the Thunderbolts most likely won’t have any problems working for the American government as Avengers did with the Sokovia Accords.

Both Teams Like Being the Good Guys

In the original comics, the Thunderbolts stepped in when the Avengers were presumed dead in another dimension, but no one knew their identities. Baron Zemo was leading the team for his own nefarious purposes, but the rest of the team actually liked being the good guys and replaced Zemo with Hawkeye.

Having different leaders over the years, like the Avengers, we do not know who will lead the Thunderbolts this time around. Still, it seems that Yelena has a prominent spot in the front of the group photo in the D23 release, and many fans would be excited to see how the lovable White Widow manages this tag-tag group.

But the Thunderbolts Are Losers

The defining difference between the Thunderbolts from the Avengers actually comes from Thunderbolts star David Harbour, who plays Alexei Shotsakov A.K. A. The Red Guardian. While talking with ComicBook’s Phase Zero podcast, Harbor defines the Thunderbolts as “losers” who “just mess everything up… and no one gives them the respect they do like Captain America or Iron Man.”

The Thunderbolts will never be as revered as the Avengers. The Red Guardian is a Soviet knockoff of Captain America, U.S. Agent is a failed successor of Captain America, and The Winter Soldier is the closest ally and best of the real Captain America, and still doesn’t receive the star-spangled shield.

The Thunderbolts will likely be their own worse enemy, as more than a few members have issues with each other and themselves. Such a group of well-meaning-but-morally-skewed superpowered individuals is a recipe for disaster.

Avengers/Thunderbolts, Assemble​​​​​​

Just as the Guardians of the Galaxy is a separate group that crossed paths with the Avengers and joined forces, so will the Thunderbolts. Coming at the end of Phase 5, right before Fantastic 4, possibly the X-Men, and two Avengers movies in Phase 6, Harbour revealed to io9 that Thunderbolts will “drop a bomb on the MCU.” Already dealing with the Multiverse, for the first time in a long time, no one knows what will happen in the MCU – just because of this rag-tag team.