Marvel has three theatrical releases scheduled for next year: Captain America: Brave New World (February 14th), Thunderbolts* (May 2nd), and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25th). I can’t wait to see all of them, but if I were to pick just one to watch in theaters, there wouldn’t even be a contest. Thunderbolts* is easily the most exciting of the three for me, especially considering Marvel’s brilliant marketing trick.
That asterisk at the end of the title might seem puzzling, but there’s an exciting theory that explains it. Thunderbolts might not be the final name for this team of misfits that will have to band together to fight for their survival and the greater good. If that theory turns out to be accurate, the MCU will get a mind-blowing twist before we get to the final Avengers adventures.
I was wondering whether we’ll ever see the Thunderbolts team name addressed in trailers, and I finally have my answer.
Marvel released a great new Thunderbolts* trailer at D23 Brazil, which contains a few amazing sequences starring Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Also, the trailer gives us a big answer to a lingering Avengers question, an answer we were waiting for the movie to deliver. But the most important thing in the new clip concerns the Thunderbolts* film title and team name.
Before telling you what happens, I’ll warn you that big spoilers will follow below.
Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, will be one of the six members of the Thunderbolts team. The D23 Brazil trailer features plenty of exciting action sequences, but there’s no denying that Bucky stands out. We know from previous trailers that Bucky isn’t exactly living a superhero life early in the movie, even though he’s now a recognized Avenger.
Previous clips also teased that he will embrace that side of his life again and go after his Thunderbolts colleagues at some point in the movie, likely early on. We see that happen in the D23 Brazil trailer, and I can’t stop watching that scene. Bucky is just amazing. On that note, I also love the banter between the Thunderbolts team members.
Bucky will join forces with the former villains and antiheroes and go after Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) later in the movie, as we know from previous trailers.
Separately, a Thunderbolts* partial plot leak told us that Val resides in the former Avengers Tower that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sold. The D23 Brazil trailer confirms all of that. Val has indeed purchased the building, which implies she’s no longer heading the MCU’s CIA.
Back to the banter between Thunderbolts, the trailer ends with Red Guardian (David Harbour) exclaiming, “We are the Thunderbolts!” He keeps insisting on the “cool” name, with others clearly disagreeing. Bucky says, “We can’t call ourselves that,” which is the most obvious hint that the new team will not be called Thunderbolts by the end of the movie.
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) also seem to lack any excitement for the Thunderbolts team name, though that might be clever editing from Marvel to make it appear that way.
Whatever the case, the end of the D23 Brazil trailer is Marvel’s way of cheekily addressing that asterisk at the end of the movie title. It’s a teaser that the team will be called something else by the end of the film.
The theories I mentioned before say this new team of heroes will become the MCU’s New Avengers, and I hope it’s all true. Remember that the MCU has no Avengers after the events in Endgame. And don’t expect Captain America 4 to assemble Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) Avengers, either.
Imagine how cool it’ll be for these New Avengers to be the first “army” of superheroes facing the Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) threat in Avengers: Doomsday. You know, before others intervene.
The Thunderbolts* D23 Brazil trailer follows below:
