Florence Pugh offered some insightful characterizations of her Marvel character, Yelena Belova, and the complex dynamics she shares with her father, Alexei, a.k.a. Red Guardian, played by David Harbour. Pugh commented, during the promotion of Thunderbolts, that despite having a fair share of complexities, Yelena and her father, David, still share a very authentic father-daughter relationship.
Florence Pugh on Yelena Belova and Alexei’s complex yet loving relationship
The MCU’s upcoming film, Thunderbolts, brings back the iconic father-daughter duo of Alexei and Yelena Belova. Portrayed by David Harbour and Florence Pugh respectively, the duo was first seen together on-screen in the 2021 film, Black Widow. The actors of the film recently made their appearance on Entertainment Weekly’s Comic-Con 2024 video suite, where they talked in-depth about their characters.
Pugh, dropping hints about the upcoming film, revealed that her character will be explored in depth along with her intricate relationship with her father, Alexei. The actress even added that she and Harbour tried their best to churn out their characters in the first movie, knowing that they will make their comeback soon where they will be given a window to portray their character in a nuanced manner.
“Purely because of what [director] Jake [Schreier] wanted to make and the story that we were allowed to do, we were also, as characters that are hugely complex and very difficult to live alongside one another, able to go into a very bizarre but pure and human father-daughter relationship that I was so grateful to be able to do, especially with an actor like David,” she stated.
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Florence Pugh and David Harbour on their Marvel comeback
Florence Pugh and David Harbour made it pretty evident through their recent candid remarks that they are thrilled to be back and portray their respective Marvel characters. Starring in the 2025 superhero film, Pugh expressed her gratitude to work alongside Harbour and justify the character of Yelena.
While talking about Yelena and Alexei’s bond, the Stranger Things actor joked that their relationship “starts out terrible, and then it ends pretty terrible too. Spoiler alert!” “No, we saw some of it in Black Widow, and we’re expanding on that. We start a couple of years away from that,” David Harbour added.
Hall H attendees of the comic-con got a chance to take a sneak peek at the coming MCU film, Thunderbolts, as the makers played a short clip from the film. In the clip Alexei is living alone in a messy apartment as Yelena surprisingly shows up at his door. Alexei then briskly tries to clean the apartment, trying to prove to his daughter that he has been living a happy and successful life. However, Yelena sees right through his lies and hints towards their complicated yet positively developing dynamic.
Well, it is to be seen how things turn out for Yelena and Alexei in the upcoming film. Thunderbolts brings together a group of anti-heroes for a special mission and is scheduled to be released on May 2, 2025.
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