THUNDERBOLTS* Director Says the Bob/Yelena Ship Stuff Is Cute But Doesn't See Them Romantically

Since the release of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, some fans have been vocal in expressing their hope for a Bob/Yelena relationship. In the film, it was Yelena (Florence Pugh) who gave Bob (Lewis Pullman) a chance to share how he was feeling, free from judgement.

Then she went after him in his darkest time to be a friend and help him to know he wasn’t alone. The movie was about getting through the hard parts of life, and friendships that sustain us, but some viewers thought maybe there was a chance for Yelena and Bob to have more.

The film’s director, Jake Schreier, weighed in on the idea in a recent interview with Collider, where he said:

"I have seen the Boblena stuff. I think it's really cute. I don't view it as a romantic relationship, personally. But I think we knew that Lewis and Florence having chemistry, regardless of whether that's romantic chemistry or not, that relationship is so central to the movie that it's not a bad thing to have some amount of that."

He went on to say:

"We were very clear there was never a discussion of, like, 'Is this romantic or not?' I don't think we wanted to cheapen that being there for each other in darker times and the way all of them connect to that idea. That wasn't what we were going for.

“You've got these great actors and so little narrative real estate to build this connection between them before they're kind of ripped apart, and then that connection is going to determine the end of the film.

“Getting their relationship right is so important… if we did get that right, people would enjoy watching them together. And the internet is the internet.”

I got the friendship vibe from the film, and from the pairing. I look forward to seeing all the Thunderbolts back in Avengers: Doomsday, which is set to hit screens on December 18, 2026.