Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Enlists ‘The Bear’ Star Ayo Edebiri

Ayo Edebiri, the breakout actor known for The Bear, has landed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Edebiri is joining the cast of the villain-centric The Thunderbolts, The News84Media has confirmed.

Edebiri rose to prominence last year with The Bear, the Hulu critical darling set in a high-pressure Chicago sandwich shop. The role of Sydney Adamu earned her a Critics Choice Award nomination. She is also known for working in the Netflix animated series Big Mouth.

The Thunderbolts centers on a team of Marvel anti-heroes, villains or otherwise shady characters, which at D23 last year Marvel said would include Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) David Harbor (Red Guardian), Wyatt Russell (US Agent ), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine).

“It tells you a lot about the team when beloved Winder Soldier is the most stable among them,” Marvel boss Kevin Feige quipped at D23 in 2022 introducing the team.

Jake Schreier, known for Robot & Frank, is directing, with Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson writing.

Edebiri, who just had the Ben Platt feature Theater Camp debut at Sundance, is repped by CAA, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Range Media Partners. Deadline first reported the news.