So what’s the Thunderbolts* asterisk all about? We’ll get into that and everything it might mean for the future of the MCU. Inevitable spoilers ahead…
A Thunderbolts team-up movie was in the works at Marvel for a good few years before it was finally announced in 2022. By then, Jake Schreier had signed on to direct, but in March 2024, a small but significant change was made to the title. Suddenly, the film was going by Thunderbolts*, with the asterisk’s meaning left unexplained.
The film’s stars promised there was meaning behind the asterisk and now that Thunderbolts* is in cinemas, it’s time to get into what it all means.
As always, this is your final warning for spoilers. We’ll be spoiling the end of Thunderbolts* and speculating about what comes next.
Still with us? Fantastic, let’s get into it.
At the very end of Thunderbolts* – more of which you can read here about right here – Valentina Allegra de Fontaine lures the Thunderbolts team in for a press conference, and not only takes credit for all their hard work, but also announces them as the New Avengers.
Cut to the film’s title, which changes to The New Avengers. Surprise!
Read more: Thunderbolts* review | Marvel tries to reinvent itself
You might have seen this coming. In Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson was tasked with finding the next Avengers. He was unsuccessful on that front, so it seemed likely that Thunderbolts* might reveal our new cast of superheroes at the centre of Marvel’s cinematic universe.
In fact, an international poster for the film hinted at the revelation in a pretty obvious way. As detailed here by InVerse, the poster included a line in fine print at the bottom saying “The Avengers Are Not Available”. The internet went nuts, with several articles speculating that Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman and Wyatt Russell would be our new Avengers.
Filming is currently underway for Avengers: Doomsday, and as we’ve now learned, the Thunderbolts will play a significant part in that film. We’ve still got The Fantastic Four: First Steps to come this year and, without a doubt, Marvel’s first family will also be central to the studios’ future plans. After all, the Fantastic Four spaceship is heading towards Earth in the second post-credits scene of Thunderbolts*, confirming they’ll be heading to the main timeline after their 60s-set adventure in July.
Funny enough, that same scene informs us that Wilson is fighting the New Avengers over their name, which is apparently copyrighted. David Harbour’s Red Guardian is trying to solve the problem by rebranding the group into the New Avengerz and has even gone so far as getting them colourful apparel.
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Whether this is just a little joke or an actual plot point remains unclear. Will Doomsday find Wilson and the New Avengers at odds before uniting to fight Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom? We won’t know until 1st May 2026.
Thunderbolts* is now in cinemas.
