What The Thunderbolts* Stunt Doubles Look Like In Real Life

It's no secret that the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like most big action blockbusters of the last 20 years or so, rely heavily on digital effects. Seeing what Marvel movies look like before special effects are added reveals that even the characters themselves are often built partially — if not entirely — inside computers. But that shouldn't suggest that there isn't still a lot of stunt work done in the MCU, or that there aren't an army of very talented people willing to take punches and throw themselves off buildings to really sell all those epic set pieces.

"Thunderbolts*" introduces yet another team into the MCU, featuring a mix of characters who had previously debuted in other films and shows as well as brand new additions to the universe. If you haven't seen it yet, don't worry — we aren't here to spoil anything, or even go particularly deep on plot details. The purpose of this feature is to highlight the stunt doubles whose job it was to make David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hannah John-Kamen, and the rest of the cast of "Thunderbolts*" look good by taking the majority of the hits, falls, and other dangerous maneuvers that occur over the course of the movie, which helps the MCU's shaky Phase 5 go out with a satisfying bang.

One of the fun things about the MCU shows on Disney+ has been the way they've added some of the more surprising actors to the universe. Among those is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who of course stole every single second of her fairly limited screentime in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" as Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. And according to the actor, Kevin Feige only needed to say one word in order to get Louis-Dreyfus to reprise the role for "Thunderbolts*" — and that word was "Contessa." 

With Louis-Dreyfus not exactly known as an action star, it stands to reason that she needed a little help in the stunt work department for "Thunderbolts*." Stepping up to that role was Stephanie Baur, who already had experience working in the MCU: One of her earliest stunt performer credits was actually on "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," though she didn't double Louis-Dreyfus as they aren't credited in the same episodes. Between that and "Thunderbolts*," Baur also worked on two episodes of "Agatha All Along." 

Among Baur's non-Marvel credits are "Doom Patrol," "Red One," "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," and "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves." In 2022, she took on her first major role as an actor when she starred in the film "Macy Ray and the Legend of Dead River."

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has definitely had one of the more interesting — not to mention longest — journeys in the MCU thus far, from the titular villain in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" to becoming one of the most beloved heroes in the entire franchise. In addition to being one of the leads of the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Bucky also has the distinction of being the only character to appear in all four of the "Captain America" movies. With Bucky's role in "Thunderbolts*," that has made him one of the last characters to ally with the original Avengers that was still around and active through the end of MCU Phase 5. 

Stan's stunt double for both "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "Thunderbolts*" was John Nania, who has been a stunt performer for nearly 20 years. Given Nania's physical resemblance to Keanu Reeves, it's not surprising that he doubled that actor in "47 Ronin" and "Destination Wedding." Nania has also been a stunt double for Chris Evans, Martin Starr, and Scott Adkins, to name a few. For general stunt work, a long list of other Marvel productions have featured Nania's talents, including "The Defenders," "Avengers: Infinity War," "Daredevil," "Runaways," "Avengers: Endgame," "Hawkeye," "Ms. Marvel," and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." He also appeared as an actor in two episodes of "Daredevil," playing Agent Markham.  

The so-called nepo babies of Hollywood have wildly varying reactions to the divisive label. In the case of Lewis Pullman, Bill Pullman's son, his privilege has made him strive to work that much harder. And that hard work has eventually brought him into the MCU fold, playing Robert "Bob" Reynolds — aka the Sentry and the Void — in "Thunderbolts*." Though longtime favorites in Marvel video games and collectible card games, "Thunderbolts*" marks the characters' screen debut.

Pullman's stunt double on "Thunderbolts*" was Alec Back, who had previously performed as the stunt double for Chris Evans and Karl Urban in "Ghosted" and "The Boys," respectively. He also served in that role for Will Forte on a couple of episodes of the short-lived "MacGruber" Peacock series. In addition, Back took a couple of tours through that galaxy far, far away when he did stunt work for "The Mandalorian" and "Ahsoka," while other superhero stunt work in Back's resume include the movie "Blue Beetle" and the CW series "Black Lightning." In 2021 and 2022, Back also waded into acting by appearing in a few short films. When he's not doing stunt work, Back is hiking with his corgi, Moose — who has his very own Instagram page. 

Obviously one stunt double isn't enough for a character with three different names. So Lewis Pullman's Bob/Sentry/Void also had Paul Andrew O'Connor as a stunt double on "Thunderbolts*." O'Connor first did stunt work for the Marvel Cinematic Universe way back on "Iron Man 3," subsequently lending his talents to the small screen arm of the MCU for an episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." He has since frequently worked on both MCU films and TV shows, up through "Thunderbolts*" and "Captain America: Brave New World."

Previous actors that O'Connor has been the stunt double for include Walton Goggins, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Costner, Josh Lucas, and Sebastian Stan. In addition to being a stunt performer, O'Connor is also a stunt coordinator, a job he did for the TV show "Stargirl" and movies including "Marshmallow," "The School for Good and Evil," and "The Re-Education of Molly Singer." As an actor, O'Connor played small roles in "Iron Man 3," "Logan," "American Ultra," and "Kickboxer: Vengeance." The multi-hyphenated talent also counts writer, director, producer, editor, and cinematographer among his numerous credits in the industry. 

Several characters in "Thunderbolts*" made their debut in 2021's "Black Widow," including Antonia "Taskmaster" Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko). Though the MCU version differs from the original comic book character in a few major ways — primarily, being a woman instead of a man — the ability to mimic the fighting styles of opponents survived the jump from page to screen. In most previous animated incarnations of the character, actor Clancy Brown had voiced the Tony Masters version of Taskmaster.

After working as Kurylenko's stunt double for the 2021 movie "Sentinelle," Aurélia Agel was the perfect choice for that job in "Thunderbolts*." Agel has also been a stunt double for Charlize Theron, Karen Gillan, Milla Jovovich, and was the Nebula stunt double on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." She did general stunt work on "Black Widow," but wasn't specifically Kurylenko's stunt double. In addition, Agel was a member of the fight team for "John Wick: Chapter 4." 

In 2024, Agel played the character Juliet in John Woo's "The Killer" for Peacock, a remake of his own 1989 film of the same name. Also that year, she was nominated for a Taurus World Stunt Award for best fight while doubling for Charlize Theron in "Fast X."

Another actor in "Thunderbolts*" with very famous parents is Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. And he too is trying not to capitalize on his family acting legacy, revealing he wants no part in any upcoming "Escape from New York" reboot despite him being an obvious choice to take over the role of Snake Plissken that was previously played by his dad. Instead, he's doing his own antihero thing by playing John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — first in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and then again in "Thunderbolts*." He's also already confirmed to be in the cast of "Avengers: Doomsday."

In addition to also pitching in on stunt double work for Lewis Pullman, Ben Aycrigg served as the stunt double for Wyatt Russell in "Thunderbolts*." He's also been a stunt double for Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kyle Chandler, and Jon Hamm, to name a few. Aycrigg's other Marvel stunt gigs include "Captain America: Brave New World," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," "Loki," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," "Captain Marvel," "Avengers: Endgame," "The Punisher," and "Echo," while his non-Marvel credits include "Megalopolis," "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "Ozark," "Stranger Things," and HBO's "Watchmen" series. 

"Black Widow" was as much a solo outing for Scarlett Johansson's titular character as it was the introduction of her adopted sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). And while Johansson has said that it would take a Marvel miracle for Black Widow to return to the MCU, Yelena was alive and well and able to come back for another go in "Thunderbolts*." It seems like a foregone conclusion that Yelena eventually becomes the Black Widow in the MCU, but she wasn't officially credited as such in the marketing for "Thunderbolts*" — so as of now we can only confirm that she has Black Widow assassin training and has yet to officially go by that moniker, if she ever does.

One of Pugh's stunt doubles in "Thunderbolts*" was Sarah Irwin, who has an extremely impressive list of actors she's stunt doubled for. Just in the MCU alone, Irwin has stood in for Aubrey Plaza in "Agatha All Along," Sophia Di Martino in "Loki," and Rachel Taylor in "Jessica Jones." She was also a Jen stunt double on "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law." Beyond that, Irwin has stunt doubled for Winona Ryder, Michelle Monaghan, Anna Paquin, Anya Taylor-Joy, Julianne Moore, Sofia Carson, Rose Byrne, Tilda Swinton, Kerri Russell, and Ruby Rose. She also appeared as an actor in episodes of "Chicago P.D.," "Two Sentence Horror Stories," and "FBI: Most Wanted." 

Sharing the Florence Pugh stunt double duties on "Thunderbolts*" was C.C. Ice, who had previously been one of Scarlett Johannsson's stunt doubles for "Black Widow." Ice frequently handles stunts for Elizabeth Olsen, fulfilling those duties for "WandaVision," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," "Avengers: Infinity War," "Avengers: Endgame," and also outside of the MCU on Olsen's Max series "Love and Death." 

Before getting into stunt performing, Ice had served as a set dresser for "Big Brother," a production assistant on the TV movie "Inside Haunted Hollywood," and a non-stunt stand-in on several films. Outside of stunt work, Ice also does stunt rigging, roleplays active shooters and victims for rapid response training, and has studied multiple forms of dance. She is also the owner of Apex Entertainment Studios, a studio rental space that specializes in stunt training and frequently hosts seminars focusing on the health and safety of stunt performers. 

Someone like Valentina Allegra de Fontaine would definitely have an assistant, and in "Thunderbolts*," said assistant is Mel, played by Geraldine Viswanathan. It's Viswanathan's Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, not to mention her first time being in any production of that size. She was previously best known for her roles in the movies "Drive-Away Dolls" and "You're Cordially Invited," as well as the TBS series "Miracle Workers."

Viswanathan might be new to the MCU on "Thunderbolts*," but her stunt double is not. Adrienne Ballenger has previously done stunt work in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," "Ant-Man and the Wasp," and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," the latter in which she also appeared uncredited as a Talokan guard. Ballenger was also been Geraldine Viswanathan's stunt double on "You're Cordially Invited." Other superhero movie stunt work under Ballenger's belt includes "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "Black Adam," and "The Suicide Squad," as well as the series "Doom Patrol." In addition, Ballenger was Edi Patterson's stunt double on several episodes of "The Righteous Gemstones." 

David Harbour made one important phone call after "Hellboy" (2019) flopped — to his pal Ryan Reynolds, who knows a thing or two about facing the aftermath of starring in a superhero movie bomb. But Reynolds also knows as well as anyone that fronting a failed comic book film doesn't automatically blacklist you from future attempts at the genre, and the MCU in particular is more than happy to offer actors another chance in that arena. Sure enough, Harbour got that chance playing Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian in "Black Widow," a role he reprises in "Thunderbolts*" and will return to again in "Avengers: Doomsday."

Niko Nedyalkov was Harbour's stunt double for "Thunderbolts*," bringing with him extensive experience in the field that goes back to 2004. Nedyalkov does have other MCU work in his filmography — but unlike most of the stunt performers in this feature, he has done far more on the DC side of things, in the movies "Black Adam," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," "The Suicide Squad," and "Blue Beetle," as well as the TV shows "Gotham Knights," "Stargirl," "Black Lightning," and "Watchmen." Nedyalkov also does a fair amount of acting, often playing henchmen and bodyguards, including a particularly memorable two-episode stint as villain Lobstercules on Prime Video's "The Tick."

The other stunt double for David Harbour in "Thunderbolts*" was R. Matthew Scheib, sometimes credited as just Matt Scheib. In 2025 alone, in addition to "Thunderbolts*," the prolific Scheib also did stunt work for Netflix's "The Electric State" and Prime Video's "Holland." He had previously stunt doubled Harbour on several episodes of "Stranger Things," also serving as one of the stunt coordinators for that series.

Scheib was also a stunt double for Matthew Modine for one episode of "Stranger Things," having also done that job for the actor in the movies "Wrong Turn" and "Backtrace." Other stunt work credits for Scheib include "Hawkeye," "Cobra Kai," "Lovecraft Country," "Ozark," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," and "Avengers: Endgame." He also appeared as an actor in the movies "All Eyez On Me," "Black Water," and "Army of One." In addition to stunt work, Scheib has served as a an on-set security guard for several film and television productions. 

Most of the characters in "Thunderbolts*" who have previously appeared in other MCU productions are either from "Black Widow" or are Captain America-adjacent. The main exception is Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), whose debut was instead in the 2018 movie "Ant-Man and the Wasp." Though something of a villain in her first appearance, Ghost is a member of the team in "Thunderbolts*" and is said to showcase a very different side of the character.

Though still relatively new to her stunt career, Nadia Lorencz – John-Kamen's stunt double in "Thunderbolts*" — nonetheless already has several previous MCU projects under her belt by way of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," "Loki," "WandaVision," "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," and "Agatha All Along." She also appears as a witch (uncredited) in "WandaVision," while also playing small roles in "Black Lightning" and the 2016 "MacGuyver" series. Additionally, Lorencz crossed over into fight team work with the 2024 film "Jackpot!," in which she also plays the role of "yoga mom."