THUNDERBOLTS: Steven Yeun Reveals Why He Dropped Out Of Movie; Still Hopes To Play A Marvel Character

Earlier this week, a rumour started doing the rounds on X claiming that Steven Yeun had dropped out of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Thunderbolts movie. Just a few hours later, the trades confirmed the actor’s departure, citing scheduling issues as the main reason. 

Variety has now spoken with The Walking Dead alum, leading to Yeun confirming last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike played a role in his decision to pass on playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Sentry. 

“I think for me, time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it,” he explained. “But Jake [Schreier], I know, is going to do an incredible job. I wanna do a Marvel movie It took a lot of drafts on email to make sure that I conveyed the sincerity of how sorry I was to have to back out.”

As for which Marvel role he’d like to potentially tackle next, Yeun added: “I think it’s too early to say that. I probably pissed off too many people leaving, so I’m just gonna say, ‘Thank you for having me.’ I have some ideas. But I heard if you put it out there, you’ll never get it, so I’ll keep it close to my chest.”

This whole situation is a little strange and it does sound like the actor pulled out at the last minute. After all, it wasn’t that long ago Robert Kirkman mentioned conversations with Yeun in which he revealed he’d been for a costume fitting. 

Was it really a case of scheduling issues or did the Beef star have cold feet about signing several years of his life away to a brand that’s been plagued by claims of “superhero fatigue”? It’s also possible he wasn’t keen on the latest revisions made to the screenplay. 

Then again, it may well be that there are other projects which are a bigger priority to him. Production has been delayed on Thunderbolts so many times that even the cast is making fun of the situation now, so Yeun wanting to move on is not outside the realm of possibility. 

Thunderbolts‘ confirmed cast members include Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.

Written by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin, and directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts is currently set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.