Is Kate Bishop in 'Thunderbolts'? A Quick Rundown of the Highly Anticipated Upcoming Marvel Movie

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an ever-growing family filled with characters from all walks of life. 2023 and 2024 brought multiple new movie members to the family, including Deadpool & Wolverine, The Marvels, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and more.

And 2025 promises to bring yet more exciting chapters to the Marvel storybook. Including Thunderbolts, a highly anticipated movie reminiscent of DC Comics' Suicide Squad. Is Hawkeye protege Kate Bishop going to be a part of the team? Here's a quick rundown of whether or not you can expect the archer to join the line-up.

To make things simple, no. Kate Bishop will not be a part of the Thunderbolts team. The members of the Thunderbolts team are very specific Marvel characters and Kate simply does not fit the bill.

Kate, of course, is Hawkeye's sarcastic protege in the acclaimed Disney Plus Marvel series, Hawkeye. Like her mentor, Kate is an expert archer and has faced some trials and tribulations of her own.

But also like Hawkeye, whose real name is Clint Barton (played by Jeremy Renner), Kate grapples with the challenges in her past to become the best person she can and try to protect those around her. Portrayed by Hailee Steinfield, Kate quickly became an MCU favorite as she played opposite her idol, Hawkeye.

It's Kate's optimistic disposition and "always do my best" attitude that makes her a poor candidate for joining the Thunderbolts. Because the Thunderbolts is, for lack of a better descriptor, a group of bad guys — just not the worst guys.

Like DC Comics's Suicide Squad, the Thunderbolts team gathers together Marvel characters who have checkered pasts and perhaps not pristine presents, yet they're coming together for a purpose. In this case, that purpose is running missions for the government.

Team members include Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Michael Dobson), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and US Agent (Wyatt Russell). The cast also includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lawrence Fisburne, Rachel Weisz, Harrison Ford, and Lewis Pullman. The team is a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque group of misfits who have some dark secrets, dark pasts, and trouble submitting to authority and working with others. Yet somehow they'll make it work. For the most part.

The movie is expected to drop in May 2025. And while Marvel execs have expressed a wish for new installments in the MCU to require less backstory for newcomers to understand, Thunderbolts is definitely an exception. In order to get up to speed on the backgrounds for all the team members, there are a few movies and series you'll want to watch.

Those include:

• Black Widow
• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Each Captain America movie
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Once you're all caught up and ready to watch, Thunderbolts promises to be one of Marvel's classic movies, with a combination of wit, grit, and heart.