The WGA and subsequent SAG/AFTRA strikes last year have caused significant delays and schedule shuffling on various TV and film productions resulting in actors having to abandon certain projects.
But the setback of previously attached actors having to jump ship has also provided opportunities for other actors like Bad Education star Geraldine Viswanathan, who has replaced Emmy-winning The Bear actor, Ayo Edbiri, in Marvel's upcoming film, Thunderbolts.
Edebiri was forced to leave Thunderbolts due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by Viswanathan for her undisclosed role.
Grateful for the major opportunity, Viswanathan gave a shout-out to Edebiri in a classy way by posting a screenshot of the news article on her Instagram story.
She wrote in a text overlay:
"Thank you my friend Ayo Edebiri for being too booked 💖"
Fans loved the wholesome post.
Edebiri is the second actor to leave the MCU film after Beef and Walking Dead star Steven Yeun dropped out, presumably due to a scheduling conflict caused by the strikes.
For Viswanathan, Thunderbolts could catapult her career even further given the fact that she is now a part of the juggernaut that is Marvel.
The 28-year-old Australian actor gained recognition following her 2018 breakout role in Blockers earned her praise, followed by major roles in the film Hala, and Max's Bad Education in 2019.
For now, it looks like the rest of the established cast is still a go.
The star lineup currently includes Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier/White Wolf, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova /Black Widow, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster.
Thunderbolts centers on a group of anti-heroes and former villains teaming up to work for the U.S. government.
It is scheduled for a July 25, 2025 release.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter