One of the biggest mysteries in recent movie marketing was why Marvel’s Thunderbolts* had the asterisk (*) after the title as it clearly implied that there was something else at play with the title of the movie.
And, if you watch the movie – you should, by the way, it’s one of the MCU’s best outings post-Endgame – it’s revealed just what the asterisk means.
Or, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you probably know already as Marvel/Disney has rebranded posters and billboards already (less than a week after the movie came out) to reveal that the asterisk implies the name Thunderbolts was merely a holding title and the team is called… The New Avengers.
WATCH: Final trailer for Thunderbolts arrives and man, it looks great
In the movie we learn that Thunderbolts was the name of Yelena’s soccer team when she was a child and that’s where the team’s name come from in the movie – no, silly, it had nothing to do with the character of Thnderbolt Ross, played by Harrison Ford in Captain America: Brave New World just a few short weeks ago, why would you think that?! However, by the end of the movie, having saved the world and as there’s no Avengers anymore, they are rebranded The New Avengers.
As per Deadline: The asterisk denotes the movie’s subtitle *The New Avengers, which the movie’s ragtag group […] represents… We hear from Disney that the studio didn’t technically re-title Thunderbolts* rather just spelled out that asterisk.
The team is re-named by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who announces the group’s – Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and Sentry (Lewis Pullman) – new name towards the movie’s end.
Interestingly, in the post-credit scene, it’s revealed that the new Captain America, Sam Wilson, previously Falcon, isn’t happy with the new team calling themselves The New Avengers, as he is trying to reform The Avengers and hasn’t ‘signed off’ on the name.
The poster being changed on the billboards (click to embiggen):
In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell).
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
Thunderbolts* will hit cinemas on 1st May 2025.
Watch the actors unveil the new title:
Presenting Marvel Studios’ #̶T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶o̶l̶t̶s̶* #TheNewAvengers.
Now playing only in theaters. Get tickets: https://t.co/bFq0RNeRhc pic.twitter.com/ACemttyCx3
— Marvel Studios* (@MarvelStudios) May 5, 2025
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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