Deadpool & Wolverine is the only MCU movie in theaters this year. It’s enjoying a terrific run at the box office, having topped $1 billion after three weekends. What I’m getting at is that Deadpool 3 is easily the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. But one other Marvel project has received much attention lately: Thunderbolts*. Yes, there’s an asterisk in the Thunderbolts title.
This will be Marvel’s biggest crossover since Endgame and the direct rival of the two Suicide Squad movies from the DCEU. Like in those films, we’re looking at a team-up of former villains and antiheroes who must work together against a bigger threat.
Marvel showed the first Thunderbolts trailer at D23, which has leaked since then. Poor-quality versions are making the rounds online, and I’ve already explained what happens in the clip. I’ll now focus on an incredibly funny detail from the leaked Thunderbolts trailer, which reminded me of a hilarious MCU plot hole that Marvel needs to fix. It concerns Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
Some Thunderbolts plot spoilers will follow below.
We haven’t seen Bucky in the MCU since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. That’s sometime in mid-2024 (MCU time). As a reminder, we’re currently somewhere in 2026 MCU time. That’s the present tense of the Earth-616 reality.
Deadpool & Wolverine happens in 2024, but that’s the present time in a different reality, Earth-10005.
We last saw Rocket at some point in 2026, during the adventures of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That film was practically a Rocket story. We learned how Rocket became this amazing superhero and how incredibly smart he is. By the end of Vol. 3 he becomes the new leader of the team.
After Guardians Vol. 3, I told you the MCU has a funny Rocket-related plot hole. Specifically, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which happens during Christmas 2025 in the MCU, shows us Nebula (Karen Gillan) gifting Rocket a weapon the latter wanted since he first saw it. That’s Bucky’s vibranium arm, of course.
Rocket first saw the arm on Earth during Infinity War. He half-jokingly said he would get that arm, but then Bucky vanished. In the five years between Infinity War and Endgame, Rocket became a different person (raccoon?). He wouldn’t have taken the arm from Bucky. That’s why he’s so puzzled to see Nebula’s gift in the Holiday Special.
How does this all tie to Thunderbolts? The leaked trailer tells us that Bucky is no longer fighting crime by force. He’s wearing suits now, with a Thunderbolts plot leak saying that he’s actually a congressman.
He’ll eventually join the Thunderbolts, of course. And there’s a scene in the trailer that shows us how the Winter Soldier cleans his arm. He puts it into the dishwasher, and it’s easily the best thing in the trailer. It’s so amazing that the Winter Soldier cleans his arm with his dishes. I chuckled immediately at the scene, as it made me realize Thunderbolts has great potential for humor.
But it also reminded me of the Rocket plot hole. We still don’t know if Nebula stole Bucky’s arm or had a replica created. Regardless of the answer, I want to know. If it’s the real thing, Thunderbolts could be where we get a joke about it, like the Winter Soldier commenting about Rocket bringing it back.
Yes, this is a tiny, silly detail. It’s also proof of what makes the MCU so great — well, in addition to the movies and TV shows being actually good.
Easter eggs like the Winter Soldier’s arm in the Guardians Special continuing a gag started in Infinity War are part of the connective tissue that holds the MCU together. And seeing Bucky’s arm in the Thunderbolts trailer is enough to trigger all those memories, assuming you’ve watched everything in the MCU.
