Thunderbolts* comes out on May 2nd, 2025, which means we have more than six months to go until we finally learn what that asterisk in the title is and what it means in the grander scheme of things. So far, we know that the big crossover is an important story of the Multiverse Saga, preceding the next Avengers movie by about a year.
We’re not exactly looking at the MCU’s new Avengers team, which should be forming under Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the acting Captain America of Earth-616.
The Thunderbolts aren’t exactly heroes or Avengers themselves. Except for Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who has redeemed himself since his Hydra days and became a recognized Avengers member, everyone else is hardly a superhero, as far as the world is concerned.
Instead of Earth’s mightiest heroes, we have a team of misfits that largely assemble themselves. Initially, they’ll do it to survive, as the first Thunderbolts* trailer shows. Then, they’ll have at least one big villain to fight as a team.
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All of that will make the full title reveal more exciting when it does happen. And a well-known Marvel insider keeps dropping teasers about what the film’s title might mean.
This is where I stop to tell you that big spoilers might follow: Big spoilers might follow.
Nobody would fault you if you thought of MCU’s Thunderbolts as the DCEU’s Suicide Squad. I know I thought that would be the case. But given that title twist, I no longer think that’s an apt comparison. That is, the six members of this newly-formed team will probably survive Thunderbolts* to fight another day without taking any losses. Also, unlike the DCEU equivalent, these misfits should not get tasked with a mission they can’t really refuse or survive.
Instead, the Thunderbolts might be destined for accidental (or intentional) greatness in the MCU, no matter how short-lived.
A theory suggested that the Thunderbolts team name will be temporary, hence the asterisk in the title. They’d soon be known as The Dark Avengers, which could be a mind-blowing surprise for the audience. Thunderbolts* will effectively become an Avengers movie that doesn’t have the word “Avengers” in the title.
The only problem with the Dark Avengers theory is that nobody would call themselves that, even former villains and antiheroes. That would imply they’re not attempting to redeem themselves by being part of a team that is inherently meant to save the world. Dark Avengers would imply the team would have some bad ulterior motives for, well, saving the world.
This is where Alex Perez’s teasers come in. By the end of the movie, the Thunderbolts team could be known as the New Avengers, which would be even better than the previous alternative.
Perez recently dropped a hint about the team’s new name in a Discord Q&A session. Here’s what he said when asked whether Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) will appear as a main character elsewhere after Thunderbolts*:
Oh yes. She’ll be one of the faces of a New…”team”… moving forward.
He didn’t say “New Avengers” here, but the implication was obvious.
Since then, he took to X to tease the Thunderbolts* movie will be a low-key Avengers movie in reply to someone saying the Multiverse Saga lacks a classic small-scale Avengers adventure that could be called New Avengers. Notice the cheeky asterisk in Perez’s tweet.
* https://t.co/zYJVFdPXwm pic.twitter.com/8qmW7uXw7i
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) October 20, 2024
Think about it: these six heroes will have to face a massive threat, Bob (Lewis Pullman), aka Sentry/Void. One of those personalities is a powerful hero, and the other is an enormous threat to humanity.
The even bigger threat in the movie is Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). However, the general public would be far more concerned with a massive display of power coming from that Void personality. That would be the kind of threat a new team of Avengers would have to face.
Put differently, any team capable of saving the world against another big threat would be worthy of being called Avengers. And we know how popular the Avengers are in the aftermath of Endgame.
Separately, I will point out that the Captain America 4 plot has leaked in full, with confirmations from several insiders. One general idea from that leak is that Brave New World will not actually introduce a new team of Avengers.
If Thunderbolts* happens after the events in Captain America 4 in the MCU chronology, then nobody would blame the public at large for believing the Thunderbolts qualify as New Avengers.
Finally, remember that Avengers movies usually get May releases. It’s probably not an accident that Thunderbolts* hit theaters next May.
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