by You may be aware that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is preparing a Thunderbolts movie for early 2025. Even though a number of MCU series hinted at the arrival of the Dark Avengers, we weren’t exactly thrilled. But the return of Kevin Feige as head of the MCU, and the few teasers we’ve seen of the movie since then, looks really good. So I wondered what the Thunderbolts would look like in Marvel Crisis Protocol.
The Characters
Over the years, the Thunderbolts team has evolved considerably. They started out as a team of super villains who impersonated the Avengers in order to do them harm. Over time, it has evolved into a more anti-heroic identity and, in some respects, an outright heroic one. Although many of the original members of the Thunderbolts were former, very minor characters, unlikely to ever be seen in MCP. The same cannot be said for the more recent teams.
The Team of the Movie
If we take a look at what we know about the film, we’ll have the Winter Soldier, White Widow, Ghost, Red Guardian, Taskmaster, U.S. Agent and Sentry.
So we’re very close to Bucky Barnes’ team in the 2016 Thunderbolts comic book series. A team made up of the same characters plus Black Widow and Shang-Chi.
Sentry n’est malheureusement pas présent dans le jeu, tout comme White Widow, U.S.Agent et Ghost.
Sentry is sadly missing from the game, as are White Widow, U.S.Agent and Ghost.
The General Ross team
Unrelated at first glance, we’ve seen that the antagonist of the next MCU movie Captain America will be Red Hulk. General Ross having been one of the most iconic leaders of the affiliation in 2013’s Thunderbolts series. It’s hard not to see some potential connection there. Turning our attention to the other members of General Ross’s Thunderbolts, there are several characters present in MCP today:
The Punisher, Deadpool, Elektra and Agent Venom, and after a quick trip to Mephisto’s house, they’re joined by the Ghost Rider.
Great! Only characters present in the game and will be able to be added to our list.
General Thaddeus Ross is better known as the Red Hulk. Unfortunately, he’s not in MCP at the moment. But we’ll keep him in mind for later.
The Other Teams
Over the years and as the team has evolved, other playable characters have been added, like Shocker, Rhino, Juggernaut… characters who are still more on the side of super villains than anti-heroes. I can’t imagine them being part of our team. On the other hand, Helmuth Zemo, who is a founding member, could very well join our ranks. The same goes for Bullseye, who was an iconic member in the early versions. There’s also Crossbones, who, as well as having been a member, is sorely lacking in good opportunities to get out on the gaming tables.
Our list of characters would therefore be :
I think our membership is a good example of a bunch of lawless second-raters…
The Leader
Obviously our Thunderbolts will be based mainly on General Ross’s team (2013) and James Bucky Barnes’s team from 2016. The Winter Soldier already exists in 2 versions in the game, so the best thing to do is to create a Leadership Team Tactical Card. But as said earlier, Red Hulk doesn’t exist in the game. I think this is a good opportunity to create an original character with real affiliation power. What’s more, it’ll please all the fans who’ve been pining for the chance to play Red Hulk in MCP.
New Revolution
Bucky, in his crusade against government corruption, asks to be called New Revolution. Never mind, it’ll make for great Leadership. Leadership like that of the Defenders, but where that of the Defenders highlights the bravery of its members, that of the Thunderbolts highlights their cowardice and deceit.
Red Hulk
What do we know about Red Hulk?
First of all, he has a lot in common with the Hulk, so we’ll be starting from a fairly similar profile. With a 65mm figure on a base.
Secondly, he’s incandescent, he literally burns what he touches, and if Bruce Banner gets bigger and stronger depending on his anger, General Ross gets hotter. So incinerating attacks, and heat management mechanics perhaps?
He’s immune to energy weapons and can absorb their energy, so instead of simply raising his energy defence, I’d suggest giving him a damage absorption mechanic like Bishop or Captain Marvell.
He can regenerate faster than Hulk. Giving him a Healing Factor seems far too strong to me. Instead, I suggest giving him a healing card inspired by X-Ceptionnal healing.
He’s extremely aggressive. Maybe we can use this character trait to make him an original leadership…
In the end a slightly more solid profile than a Hulk thanks to his card and his incinerated immunity. He also hits a little harder with his Heat token mechanic. To counterbalance he loses game options with the loss of stagger and push options.
The Team Tactic Cards
First of all, I wanted to emphasise the historical aspect of the affiliation, where villains have had to play the role of saviours of the widow and the orphan in spite of themselves.
Then I wanted to emphasise the ‘brave but not foolhardy’ side of our anti-heroes.
And finally, a card to illustrate the treachery of which the members of the Thunderbolts are capable.
| For downloding the material to testing this affiliation on Table Top Simulator : click Here |
Here you go, I hope you like it, the cards are clickable if you want to download them. You, the fan boy who painted your Hulk red, I know you’re dying to put it on the table to test this affiliation. Don’t hesitate to give me feedback on your games.
Thanks to Jarvis’ Protocol for the customisation tool for the game material, and thanks to others for playtesting and giving me feedback on the profiles.
