Steven Yeun stopped by THR for a roundtable discussion with Jason Segel, Tyler James Williams, Mo Amer, and John Mulaney last month to discuss their careers and upcoming projects. And at the top of Yeun’s list? “Thunderbolts,” helmed by Jake Schreier, who just directed the actor in the hit Netflix limited series “Beef.” So is Yeun excited to team up with Schreier again on a new project? He sure is, and he’s also making sure he avoids “the trap” of viewing his introduction to the MCU in a negative light.
At the end of the THR roundtable discussion, the interviewer mentioned that “Thunderbolts” is Yeun’s next project. Yeun responded, “Yeah, Jake Schreier, who did episodes of “Beef,” got the gig to direct [“Thunderbolts”],and then he saw me for this role and I read the role, and I was like, ‘This is actually a really interesting role, I’d be down to explore this.’ Soon enough, Schreier cast Yeun in the film, much to the actor’s delight. “I think it’s less about now checking things off a bucket list and more looking at an experience,” continued Yeun. “Thunderbolts” will be the biggest-budget film of Yeun’s career so far after the likes of Jordan Peele‘s “NOPE” and 2021’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (but he only cameoed in that film).
So who will Yeun play in “Thunderbolts”? That’s unconfirmed right now, but it’s heavily speculated that he’ll play Sentry, much to some Marvel fans’ chagrin. Why so put out? Well, in the Marvel comics, Sentry is a blonde, blue-eyed superhero not unlike Superman in his superpowers and being universally beloved. And being a Korean American, Yeun doesn’t fit the superhero’s original appearance at all. But if Yeun indeed plays Sentry, it’ll be an intriguing role for him, as Sentry is also his own worst enemy: his alter-ego is The Void, a villainous force who’s the negative counterforce to Sentry’s righteousness. Yeun playing a Jekyll-Hyde hero? That sounds like a perfect role for the actor’s talents.
Whomever he’s playing, Yeun sounds excited about the part, even if his friends aren’t. “Sometimes I’ll have conversations with friends who are like, Do you know what you’re doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re making a movie,’ Yeun said. “And they’re like, ‘Do you know what you’re doing? I try not to take that in because I think that’s the trap. The trap is to look at that thing in the context of how society might view that thing. In the immediate, I’m just making a movie. Putting it out is a whole other thing that I’m going to have to prepare for afterwards.” In other words, Yeun isn’t buying into the negative outlook some moviegoers have about the MCU at this point. The actor looks at the role as just another project, which may be the most mature approach.
But then again, this is also a gigantic ensemble film that includes the likes of Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Harrison Ford, Olga Kurylenko, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and more. It’s by far the biggest film Yeun has ever done; so while it’s just another movie , it’s also more than that. And John Mulaney couldn’t help but joke about the paycheck Yeun likely got for his role in it. “Is the money as good as we’d all hope, or was it slightly disappointing?” joked the comedian. To which Yeun responded, “I’m not going to go there.” Fair enough.
“Thunderbolts” hits theaters on July 26, 2024, the penultimate movie of Marvel’s Phase 5. Expect more concrete plot details, and official info about who Yeun plays in the film, soon.