Marvel’s Thunderbolts features outsider heroes, Korean talent

Harry Yoon, a Korean American film editor for Marvel Studios' upcoming Thunderbolts, said the story’s outsider heroes reminded him of Bong Joon Ho’s The Host and the Korean drama My Mister — both of which show marginalized people banding together to survive.

“I love the scene in The Host (2006) where an incapable family unites to fight back, and in My Mister (2018), where people on the margins take care of each other,” Yoon, 54, said during a virtual press conference with South Korean media on Wednesday. “It feels similar to how outsider heroes join forces in Thunderbolts.”

Production designer Grace Yun, 43, also said the film brings a new kind of hero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Our movie features heroes who walk on the ground — people you might actually meet,” she said. “That’s what makes it stand out from other Marvel films.”

Set in a world without the Avengers, Thunderbolts introduces a new generation of Marvel heroes. Characters such as Yelena (Florence Pugh), Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) have no real superpowers and, with their deep flaws, come closer to antiheroes than the franchise's traditional champions.

Yoon and Yun both said they focused on creating characters distinct from past Marvel heroes.

“Red Guardian is portrayed as someone who has let go, someone resigned and stuck in nostalgia,” Yun said, noting that she designed his home filled with old photos that evoke his past.

Yoon added, “Unlike other Marvel films that focus on defeating and destroying enemies, this is a story about healing the self. We paid close attention in editing to clearly explain the heroes' motivations.”


이호재 기자 hoho@donga.com