2 MCU Stars Didn’t Appear in Thunderbolts* Even Though They Would’ve Been Perfect

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* might not have performed as well as hoped at the box office, but the movie still received high praise, despite leaving two underdeveloped Marvel Cinematic Universe characters out of the adventure. Thunderbolts* hit theaters on May 2, 2025 as the final feature film in the MCU’s Phase 5, acting as an Avengers-style Phase-capper by bringing together several reformed villains and antiheroes as the first Thunderbolts team. In a shocking twist, the Thunderbolts were outed as the New Avengers, but two perfect characters weren’t present to witness this evolution.

Thunderbolts* marked the returns of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ava Starr’s Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker’s US Agent (Wyatt Russell) as the titular rag-tag team. They were brought together by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who hoped to kill them all to destroy evidence of her activities. However, they ended up teaming up to quell one of Valentina’s rogue experiments, Robert Reynolds’ Sentry (Lewis Pullman), who unleashed his nightmarish Void across New York City.

After they defeated the Void and restored Robert Reynolds, the team were revealed to the world as the New Avengers, a title they still hold 14 months later in Thunderbolts*’ post-credits scene. This completed their transformation into heroes after they previously all took on villainous or antiheroic roles in previous MCU projects. This wasn’t the only thing that changed from the team members’ previous adventures, as some of their best supporting characters were also absent from Thunderbolts*, even though it would have made a lot of sense to bring them back.

Thunderbolts* Was the Perfect Place for Bill Foster & Melinda Vostokoff to Return to the MCU

With the returns of Ghost, Yelena Belova, and the Red Guardian in Thunderbolts*, it would have also made sense for Bill Foster and Melina Vostokoff to come back. The last time we saw Ghost and the Red Guardian in the MCU, they were with Foster and Vostokoff, respectively, which makes their absence from the Phase 5 movie even more surprising and confusing. Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz could have brought even more star power and notoriety to Thunderbolts*’ already-impressive cast, and could have even become members of the MCU’s New Avengers themselves.

In Marvel Comics and in the animated What If…? series – as well as in the MCU’s live-action history – Bill Foster became the size-changing superhero known as Goliath. It would have been fantastic to see this evolution come to fruition in Thunderbolts*, especially after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kind of tainted the pre-existing size-changing heroes of the MCU, who now need redemption. Foster was a father-figure to Ava Starr ever since the accident that provided her phasing ability, so his absence from Thunderbolts* doesn’t make much sense.

Melina Vostokoff’s story in Thunderbolts* could have been even more exciting, as she becomes the armored villain Iron Maiden in Marvel Comics. This storyline was explored in What If…? season 2, but she could have become a more heroic version of this character in Thunderbolts*. Her transformation could have continued Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) legacy in the MCU, as Melina was a mother-figure to Romanoff and Belova, while also introducing a new armored antihero, perhaps adding another thread to Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) legacy as Iron Man, too.

Why Didn’t Bill Foster & Melina Vostokoff Appear in Thunderbolts*?

Shortly after the premiere of Thunderbolts* in May 2025, screenwriter Eric Pearson revealed to Screen Rant that Bill Foster was intended to become Goliath in an early draft of the Phase 5 movie’s script. “There was a version where Bill Foster got involved as well with Ghost,” Pearson explains. “Bucky wasn’t in the first script. I think there was Bill Foster instead, and might’ve gotten swapped out. But, yeah, that’s it.” It’s hard to imagine Thunderbolts* without Bucky Barnes, but Bill Foster’s Goliath would have been a fantastic inclusion seven years after his MCU debut.

Things are a little different for Melina Vostokoff. Early speculation suggested that Thunderbolts* could have taken the form of a spiritual sequel to 2021’s Black Widow, and Belova and Shostakov’s prominence helped it fulfil this goal. Black Widow’s final moments saw Melina leave with Belova and Shostakov, but her current whereabouts in the MCU are unclear. Thunderbolts* would have been the perfect place to bring both these characters back to the MCU, and it’s a shame they were omitted, as they could have also become members of the New Avengers team alongside their antihero allies.

Do you wish Bill Foster and Melina Vostokoff appeared in Thunderbolts*? Let us know in the comments!