Thunderbolts* Introduces A Secret Eighth Team Member

By Felipe Rangel

Published May 3, 2025

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Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*.

cast of Thunderbolts* includes one MCU veteran in the form of Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, it is mostly made up of characters who have debuted during the Multiverse Saga. The team has three super-soldiers, a tactical fighter in Yelena, and Ghost, who can phase through objects and people.

Taskmaster filled a similar role to Yelena's, which is likely why she was chosen as the shocking death at the start of the film to get Thunderbolts*'s story rolling. While the cast of the Thunderbolts* sequel to be explored.

Geraldine Viswanathan's Mel Plays A Key Role In Thunderbolts*

Bucky Barnes Needed Her Help To Form His Superhero Team

Geraldine Viswanathan makes her MCU debut in Thunderbolts* as Mel, who is the assistant to Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The role was originally going to be played by The Bear's Ayo Edebiri, who had to leave due to scheduling conflicts. Based on that prior casting, I knew there was likely more to this mysterious character than meets the eye. In Thunderbolts*, Mel plays a key role in helping the new superhero team even though she is not part of it.

Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes in Thunderbolts*

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* Almost Took Place Entirely In A Single Location & I Would Have Loved To See It

Thunderbolts* was almost very different, as the MCU movie would have taken place in a single location originally, which would have been exciting.

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While Mel does help Valentina with her dark plans, her moral code is different from her boss', which leads to Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes being able to convince her to help him bring Valentina down. It is due to Mel that Bucky is able to track the Thunderbolts and later get them to him in going after Valentina in the former Avengers Tower, which would become the HQ of the Thunderbolts — now called the New Avengers — by Thunderbolts*'s post-credits scene. However, there might be more to Mel than the movie lets on.

Mel Is Theorized To Be Melissa Gold AKA Songbird From The Comics

Thunderbolts* Might Have Hidden An Original Team Member From The Comics

In the comics, the original formation of the Thunderbolts included characters like Zemo and Songbird. None of the original of the team in the comics appeared in the MCU movie, or at least it seemed like that. After Thunderbolts*, I'm convinced that it makes sense for Geraldine Viswanathan's Mel to be revealed as Melissa Gold, aka Songbird. The first clear connection between the characters is their names, as Mel is likely short for Melissa. The other is the bird necklace that Mel wears in Thunderbolts.

Marvel is known for planting the seeds of future characters and storylines in every MCU project, so by calling Viswanathan's character Mel and giving her a bird necklace, I feel like Marvel is telling the audience that Songbird was indeed in Thunderbolts* and we should see her superhero persona come out in the future. In the comics, Songbird has sonic powers, being able to use sonic screams to incapacitate enemies, create solid constructs out of sound, and more. Mel does not seem to have powers in Thunderbolts*, but a similar experiment to the Sentry project could turn her into Songbird

Songbird Could The Team In Avengers: Doomsday

The New Avengers Will Return In The 2026 Movie

I don't think that Mel will have to wait until a Thunderbolts* sequel for us to see her turn into Songbird if the MCU really is going in that direction with the character, which the evidence points to. Mel could very well become a superhero next year, as pretty much all Thunderbolts* are confirmed to return in Avengers: Doomsday. While Viswanathan was not among the cast announced for the Marvel movie, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has revealed that it was not the full list of stars who will appear in the Avengers film.

Thunderbolts* Cast Member	Character
Sebastian Stan	James "Bucky" Barnes, A.K.A. The Winter Soldier
Florence Pugh	Yelena Belova, A.K.A. Black Widow
Wyatt Russell	John Walker, A.K.A. US Agent
David Harbour	Alexei Shostakov, A.K.A. Red Guardian
Hannah John-Kamen	Ava Starr, A.K.A. Ghost
Olga Kurylenko	Antonia Dreykov, A.K.A. Taskmaster
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine
Lewis Pullman	Bob (Sentry/The Void)
Geraldine Viswanathan	Mel

As such, there is a chance that Mel could be one of the remaining characters to be announced for Avengers: Doomsday. I think it would make sense for her to appear, as she was key to Thunderbolts*'s story, and Bucky could once again come to her for help, or perhaps Mel is now directly providing tech to the New Avengers, since Yelena Belova told Valentina that they now owned her, which means Mel and OXE could be working for the heroes now. If the team needs help after Thunderbolts*, going to Mel, a familiar face, makes sense.