Who Is Steven Yeun Playing in Marvel’s Thunderbolts? Here Are Our Predictions

We know that Thunderbolts will be one of the most exciting movies under the MCU phase 5 slate, as this film will feature villains as the central characters of the storyline. In that regard, the cast of Thunderbolts is steadily filling up with notable names in the movie industry, as we heard that Steven Yeun would be appearing in this film as one of the actors making their MCU debut. However, who will Steven Yeun be playing in Marvel’s Thunderbolts?

Steven Yeun is likely to play either Mister Negative or Amadeus Cho. Both of these characters are of Asian descent, which is why they are the likeliest roles for Yeun. However, because of the possibility of a bigger Hulk movie coming in the future, Yeun is likely to play Amadeus Cho.

The thing about Marvel Studios is that many actors are often given roles that will be for a long-term basis, as we all know that the MCU is always looking toward the future. As such, there is a good chance that a well-known Asian actor like Steven Yeun will be given a role allowing him to be in the MCU for a long time. So, with that said, let’s look at who Steven Yeun will be playing in Thunderbolts.

Who is Steven Yeun playing in Marvel’s Thunderbolts?

As the MCU is ready to give us more Phase Five and Phase Six movies that will be very important to the future of this movie universe, one of the things that we know is that the Thunderbolts movie is going to be one of the more exciting films in Marvel Studios’ slate. That’s because this will be the first movie to feature villains as the main characters, especially considering that the Thunderbolts have always been the Suicide Squad of Marvel Comics, except that most of the members of the Thunderbolts want to redeem themselves.

Considering that the Thunderbolts is a group composed of different villains, it is not a surprise that more and more actors are given roles in this film, which will be released in 2024. And one of the most notable names we know will be appearing in this upcoming film is Steven Yeun, who was recently confirmed to join the cast of Thunderbolts.

We don’t know much about what this movie will be and who will be in it, but who is Steven Yeun playing in Marvel’s Thunderbolts?

Of course, Yeun’s role in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie is yet to be announced or confirmed, but some people are already speculating who he will be portraying in that film. And we know that the MCU ensures that its characters are portrayed by actors that fit their race, color, and gender.

In that regard, we do believe that Yeun will be playing an Asian character in Thunderbolts. This allows us to narrow the choices to two different Asian characters likely to appear in this film. We are talking about Mister Negative and Amadeus Cho. Of course, we have good reasons to believe that these are the top candidates for Steven Yeun’s role.

Will Steven Yeun play Mister Negative?

Mister Negative is an Asian character born in China and a member of the Snakeheads gang in China. He was a criminal forced to live a life of crime by the villain Silver Fang. And he spent his early life smuggling Chinese immigrants from China to the US.

Born as Martin Li, Mister Negative eventually found himself in New York after he moved from China. There, he was exposed to a drug called D-Lite, which allowed him to control the Darkforce and the Lightforce, manifesting these powers as the photographic negative of black or white electrical energy. That was when he became a villain that often fought with Spider-Man.

Of course, because Mister Negative is an Asian villain, his becoming a member of the Thunderbolts should be a possibility. Steven Yeun’s age (around 40 years old by the time the movie gets released) also fits Martin Li’s character as a middle-aged man.

However, while there is a good chance of Yeun portraying the role of Mister Negative, the problem is that Martin Li is a Spider-Man villain. We know that Sony still owns the rights to the Spider-Man film franchise, including the villains that regularly appear in the Spider-Man comics. 

As such, it is unlikely that Sony will easily give up a prominent Spider-Man villain to Marvel Studios without getting something big in return. That is why there is a good chance that Steven Yeun won’t be portraying Mister Negative in Thunderbolts.

Will Steven Yeun play Amadeus Cho?

Amadeus Cho is a Korean-American teenager exposed to nanobots that allowed his body to contain and use gamma energy. This was caused by the actions of the Leader, who we all know is Samuel Sterns. As such, Cho obtained the ability to transform into a Hulk-like character that had physical attributes similar to Bruce Banner’s Hulk transformation.

Steven Yeun is also Korean-American, so his chances of playing Cho are high. Of course, there’s also the fact that Samuel Sterns has teamed up with the Thunderbolts in the comics, and that means that the man responsible for Cho’s transformation into a Hulk is likely to appear in this movie as well. And we already met Sterns back in the events of the 2008 Hulk movie.

There’s also the fact that the rights to the Hulk’s movie distribution will revert to Marvel Studios, which means there will be more Hulk movies somewhere down the line. So, with the Hulk set to become a major player in the MCU once more, a character like Amadeus Cho getting introduced in the Thunderbolts should be a possibility. And that means that Steven Yeun is likely to play the role of Cho.

The only problem here is that Amadeus Cho was first introduced as a teenager in the comics and is still in his early 20s in the current comic book timeline. As youthful as his appearance may be, Steven Yeun is already on the older side of the calendar.

As such, if Amadeus Cho is in Thunderbolts, there’s a good chance that the role will be given to a younger Asian actor and that Yeun will be portraying the father of Amadeus Cho. This is just pure speculation at this point, as we don’t know anything about the upcoming Thunderbolts movie or Yeun’s role in that film. But we’ll keep ourselves updated if anything new comes out.

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