Steven Yeun bolts from Marvel’s Thunderbolts

Perhaps sparing himself from headlines recapping the underwhelming box office of yet another Marvel film, Steven Yeun has exited , . . At the time, mere days after the release of , a canary in the coal mine for 2023’s extended bout with superhero fatigue, Yeun was an exciting get for the MCU. Now, it seems he’s avoiding having his name dragged by the Monday morning studio execs at .

His loss! Yeun was expected to play a major role in the series—though creator and frequent Yeun collaborator, Robert Kirkman, said . However, it was never officially announced what that role was, how it would fit into Phase 5, or whether or not he was, in fact, a Skrull. We no longer know if that’s a good or bad thing, but the question remains unanswered.

isn’t just any Marvel project, though. It’s a major crossover event, the kind they never make anymore, joining characters from , , and . It’s a collection of everyone’s favorite third tier Marvel heroes that populated whatever phase we’re currently in. Some big names are still expected to show up for , including Florence Pugh, Julia Louis Dreyfus, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, and Harrison Ford.

Ford, who is still with the project, called the upcoming Phase 5 capper, , a “ ,” and we were all supposed to pretend he was kidding. Yeun’s exit is yet another blow to Marvel Studios. Aside from searching for a new Kang The Conqueror following , Marvel has faced a downturn in the superhero movie market, particularly after the release of , the studio’s first movie to fail to reach $100 million at the domestic box office.

Currently, Marvel only has two things officially on the docket this year: (oh, the jokes he’ll make about all this) and , which, for Disney’s sake, better generate some excitement over quipping vigilantes in underlit rooms..