COMICS: Daniel Way Talks In Detail About The Roster Of The Marvel NOW! THUNDERBOLTS

Yes; this is not "another X-Force." This is also not a covert ops team. When the Thunderbolts hit a target, they'll do so in the loudest way possible. Separately, on their own, these characters were waging open-ended campaigns. Why were they on their own? Why has no one stepped in to help them? Would not the world be a better place if organized crime was eliminated, or The Hand summarily wiped out? Whether due to indifference, moral quandary or political agenda, there are pockets of infection throughout the MU that have been allowed to fester and grow. This team of Thunderbolts exists to cut out that infection, wherever it is found. They do not recognize boundaries or borders, be they moral, political or geographical. They can and will strike anyone, at any time, without warning. They are the consequence of evil deeds, pure and simple.

Red Hulk is the metaphorical 800-pound gorilla in this situation. He's also a former general with decades of battlefield experience. Only Red Hulk has the capacity to lead this team, and only Thunderbolt Ross has the clarity of vision to effectively deploy them.

Though he's not a mutant, Deadpool is a member of X-Force for one simple reason: He's a killer. That's not, however, why he's a member of the Thunderbolts. Red Hulk has plenty of killers, already — what he doesn't have is someone versed in non-linear tactics. Red Hulk — Ross — knows every play in the book but what Deadpool knows isn't in the book. That being said, Deadpool does kill a whole lotta people in this series.

Previously, Flash Thompson was given an incredible weapon to use... and was then told not to use it to its full potential. This was not acceptable to Flash or the symbiote. Within the Thunderbolts camp, however, there are no such restrictions.

Well, none of these characters are really "team players" but Elektra is definitely a standout in this regard. Elektra remains on the same path she set upon when her father was murdered, the same path that has led her time and again to her own death. Her motivation is to reach the end of that path... alive. And for that, experience has taught her, she'll need allies.

Punisher's involvement — why Red Hulk wants him on the team — is actually an important plot thread in this series. After all, he's the one character on the team without any superhuman or supernatural powers. He's just a man, committed fully to a course of action that will surely lead to death and failure... and yet, he soldiers on. Does this make Punisher less human, or more? Suffice it to say that "salvage" is a term never far from Thunderbolt Ross' mind.