I said a few days ago that the big Thunderbolts* reveals are imminent. At the time, we learned that Marvel would hold fan screenings in Europe on April 22nd, which turned out to be the film’s big European premiere. Most of the Thunderbolts* cast showed up at the event, and the guest list had a few surprises that might be relevant to the current state of MCU affairs.
The first official, non-spoiler reactions popped online after the Thunderbolts* premiere, and the general idea seems to be that Marvel has a winner on its hands. Thunderbolts* is darker than other movies, focusing on complex characters and a great story. It’s also a pivotal event for things to come in the MCU. By the things to come, I mean Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, of course.
But the first Thunderbolts* spoiler-filled leaks are also out there now that the first premiere happened. They address the mysterious asterisk in the movie title, which we’ve discussed over and over, and the film’s two post-credits scenes.
That’s right, Thunderbolts* has two credit scenes you’ll want to sit through, and they’re both exciting and crazy.
This is where I tell you that massive Thunderbolts* spoilers follow below. You’ll want to wait for May 2nd if you love to be surprised in theaters.
The asterisk in Thunderbolts*
If you love MCU spoilers like me, you’re probably well aware of the leaks and theories that say the asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title is meant to hide the true name of the Avengers-like team that’s forced to form in this Marvel adventure.
Thunderbolts is just a placeholder name, one that’s not going to stick around for too long. These misfits will save New York from a massive threat by the end of the movie, and that’s Bob’s (Lewis Pullman) The Void. He’s the most dangerous villain to walk the Earth in recent years, maybe even more dangerous than Thanos (Josh Brolin).
The promo clips certainly make it clear that The Void is more powerful than all of the Avengers combined, and the Avengers aren’t coming to save the day. The Thunderbolts are.
Because Marvel revealed the cast of Doomsday, we know almost all the Thunderbolts and Bob will appear in Avengers 5. I believe Bob will be a Thunderbolts member by the end of Thunderbolts* once the team deals with The Void.
That’s because Bob also becomes The Sentry, the good, Superman-like superhero that can actually help the Avengers fight Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) next.
So, what do you call yourself if you beat The Void in public and there are no Avengers? The New Avengers. That’s the theory, and the Thunderbolts* credits leak seems to confirm that.
According to YouTube channel The GeekyCast, the first credits scene has Red Guardian (David Harbour) grocery shopping and looking for the cereal box with the New Avengers name on it.
Remember that Marvel has already promoted the movie with a poster showing a Thunderbolts cereal box (see the top image).
The mind-blowing Thunderbolts* credits scene
Red Guardian’s scene is only the mid-credits one. Thunderbolts* also has an end-credits scene that gives us the New Avengers sitting around the table in the Watchtower (the New Avengers Tower) and discussing the team’s name.
Apparently, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is not happy with their choice, as he is trying to form his own team with the same name. The YouTuber said Captain America might sue the Thunderbolts for the name.
While that happens, a notification on the computer alerts the Thunderbolts that a ship is arriving from somewhere.
That ship has a “4” logo on it in the colors of the Fantastic Four team from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. That movie will conclude Marvel’s theatrical releases this year, premiering a couple of months after Thunderbolts*.
Given the kind of threat the Fantastic Four are about to face in their universe, fans speculate that their world will die, and that’s how they end up on Earth-616.
A similar take for the second Thunderbolts* credits scene comes from well-known leaker MyTimeToShineHello (via ComicBookMovie), which tells the same story:
The post-credits scene for Thunderbolts* is as follows: The New Avengers are in their new tower talking about Sam recruiting his own New Avengers team and how he has the copyright for that name. Then they hear about something coming from space, it’s the Fantastic Four ship coming into their universe.
It’s unclear whether the two leaks are connected or whether the latter inspired the YouTube video below. But we’ll definitely see more talk about the Thunderbolts* credits scenes and asterisk meaning in the coming days.
Finally, I’ll also note that Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) will surely die in the film. There has hardly been any Taskmaster in recent promo clips, with Marvel having apparently decided to phase the character out. Maybe that’s what Marvel needed, aiming to form a team of six New Avengers, similar to the originals, with Bob’s Sentry taking a spot on the team.
