Hanna John-Kamen On Thunderbolts* And Always Staying Ready For Your Close Up – Essence
Killer action roles in television, sci-fi odyssey outlaws, and hyper-dystopian stories are brimming out of Hanna John-Kamen’s filmography as a performer with stamina in her emotional performance onscreen. The 35-year-old English actress known for her very-hands-on roles in films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Ready Player One, as well as tv shows like Game of Thrones, and Black Mirror, is ready for her close up as she has had heavy supporting roles in a multitude of successful franchises. She is reprising her role as Ghost (Ava Starr) in Marvel’s Thunderbolts*. Directed by Jake Schreier, the asterisk in the film’s title is a true display of the way Marvel and the filmmaker intended this story to be an off-shoot of the Disney franchise and is disclaiming how vastly different Thunderbolts* is from Marvel’s glossier repertoire of films.
“Jake’s lens of this movie was very, tonally specific,” John-Kamen describes to me on a call. “It was like making an indie movie in the Marvel Universe — Jake had a level of sensitivity and nurturing for this story.” John-Kamen’s reembodiment of Ava Starr as Ghost, the killing assassin-for-hire is a crucial pariah of the newly-formed group that is later acknowledged in the film as the Thunderbolts, a name developed by David Harbour’s character, Alexei Andreovitch (Red Guardian).
John-Kamen’s family roots trace back to her Nigerian father and Norwegian mother who worked vastly different jobs as a forensic psychologist and high fashion model. With her established background in the performance arts, she was able to bring her history of being raised in a household full of beauty and brains into her onscreen roles. The English performer is nonstop traveling for her roles in television and film and has worked with cinema maestros like Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One) and now, Jake Schreier. “It’s quite tough because when you’re filming abroad as well, you’re filming against the time difference which is easier said than done,” John-Kamen confides. “It can be a lonely lifestyle sometimes in this world and that relates to Ghost and I ground myself by taking a breath and seeing my loved ones, friends, and cuddling my dog.”
Florence Pugh leads Thunderbolts* as Yelena Belova, the self-exiled super agent who suffers from experiencing troubling episodes that replay memories from her past that haunt her. Belova’s unhealed childhood trauma has led her to become an individual who operates best alone. Belova and Starr are the stronghold behind the anti-hero alliance of the Thunderbolts. They are the only women in the six-member organization that comes together to face-off against controversial forces. “She is very, very in control of herself, her body and her decision making,” John-Kamen expands. “She is the Fort Knox of herself and she is a lone wolf.”
The offbeat moments of comedy from the cast that consists of Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman and many more are what makes the Thunderbolts relatable and feel more human than the Avengers or X-Men. Without possessing shiny superpowers, the outcasts that make up the Thunderbolts are forced to face their realities without the chasing fandoms and public support. In the film, the Thunderbolt’s arch nemesis is Louis-Dreyfus’s vengeful character, Valentina Allegra de Fountaine — the infiltrating executive who seeks to manipulate and take out the Marvel hero team.
Through the two-hour journey that makes up the Thunderbolt’s origin story, the audience experiences the way these skilled fighters continue butting heads over the most futile issues. Ava Starr remains under the radar for most the film because she has more action sequences than words. “Her guard is very much up,” John-Kamen says. Ava Starr shows up when Yelena Belova needs her most to save the world overtaken by darkness. Lewis Pullman’s character, Robert “Bob” Reynolds is weaponized against the Thunderbolts and his arch symbolizes how our minds can be as powerful as an inconquerable villain.
Schreier’s approach to this film in the Marvel franchise was all about zooming in more than outwards, he removes all of the glamorized aesthetics that make heroes so aspirational. Even in the marketing, the Thunderbolts are captured standing in the center of a Wheaties box cut-out to satiricize the superhero trope created in Marvel cinema. Each anti-hero character faces their own internal battles formed by trauma and hurt in Eric Pearson’s script. “We were really laughing in between takes,” Hanna cautions me while talking about the heavier aspects of the film. “I’ve really formed this beautiful family in this cast.”
Overall, the Thunderbolts* is a story that follows wounded people who learn to heal. They end up forming a family bond and support system with one another along the way. In 2025, when people can feel more disconnected, the Thunderbolts narrative hits harder at home watching characters build enough confidence and mental fortitude to stand up for themselves and their newfound friends. “I think at the end of this movie, I want you to hug a loved one or make sure someone feels safe and let them know they don’t have to put on a brave smile all the time,” John-Kamen concludes.
