Thunderbolts*, now named The New Avengers, is, indeed, the best-reviewed film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. The movie holds an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing Deadpool & Wolverine (78%), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (84%), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (82%). Since its release last Friday, Marvel has wasted no time spoiling the ending. During the movie’s opening weekend, the title changed from Thunderbolts* to “*The New Avengers.”
Thunderbolts* Title Changed to The New Avengers
The studio posted a video of the cast ripping the Thunderbolts* title off the poster to reveal The New Avengers title. The poster has since included the new title on ticketing websites like Fandango. Fans had been wondering why the Thunderbolts* title included the asterisk. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) revealed the answer in the film’s third act when she announced the group’s name as the New Avengers.
The team includes John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Sentry (Lewis Pullman), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Director Jake Schreier said about the change, “It felt like, if Val is also trying to pull a switcheroo and sell the New Avengers to the world, we could do that, too. Especially given that the asterisk has been on the movie for a year, hopefully it doesn’t feel sweaty — it feels like this was a plan and we built up to it.”
In addressing the title switch, Schreier added, “It’s very fun that they were open to embracing that. It’s so interesting in this world, and Kevin talks about it sometimes, where sometimes they wanted things to leak, and they don’t. I think we all assumed that it would be a bigger part of the conversation already, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.” The movie’s post-credit scene reveals the new group living in the old Avengers’ headquarters, now called the Watchtower.
They are also in a legal tug-of-war with Captain America (Anthony Mackie) over copyright infringement of the Avengers logo. Captain America: Brave New World concluded with Sam Wilson heading out to reassemble a New Avengers team. The Thunderbolts* cast will reprise their roles as their respective characters next summer in Avengers: Doomsday, where they will likely team up with the original Avengers, plus The Fantastic Four, in order to stop Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom.
The New Avengers Tease The Fantastic Four
The other huge tease in the post-credits scene shows the Fantastic Four’s spaceship entering Earth’s orbit from another dimension as their signature theme music plays. The scene was shortly before the movie hit theatres, and it was directed by the Russo brothers, who are returning to Marvel to direct the next two Avengers films.
In speaking about the scene, Schreier said, “We all worked on the scene just to make sure that it was honest to where our characters were. But you’re giving them over to this whole new world and new scope, and you want them to function in that way. It was fun to see them directed in another context and on a different level of scope than we had been treating it.”
Although the movie is still called Thunderbolts*, you will see the *The New Avengers title on the poster in the Fandango, AMC Theatres, and Regal Cinemas apps and websites. During the film, the group officially took on the Thunderbolts name as a joke, in reference to Yelena’s bad peewee soccer team. After they save New York City from Bob’s (Pullman) villainous alter ego, the Void, Fontaine takes credit and remands them to the New Avengers against their will. A promising conclusion for The Handmaid’s Tale was recently teased in other entertainment news.
Final Thoughts
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theatres, and Fantastic Four: First Steps will hit theatres this summer on July 25. The movie has memorable dialogue and features pre-existing characters and newcomers alike. Coming together to form a new group of superheroes, this new roster evolves individuals with dark pasts into a newfound family. By facing the Void, the Thunderbolts* prevailed in moving from their mistakes to make a difference, and they are now brand new heroes. In other news, President Donald Trump announced that the government would pay $1,000 to immigrants in the country illegally to return to their home country.
