Marvel has officially changed the title of the film Thunderbolts* to “The New Avengers”, revealing the filmʼs main plot twist (the news may contain spoilers).
Variety writes about this.
Marvel Studios changed the title of its new blockbuster Thunderbolts* during its opening weekend — itʼs now officially called “The New Avengers”. A giant billboard in Los Angeles advertising the film replaced the old title with the new one.
Fans have long wondered why the official title of Thunderbolts* had an asterisk. The answer comes in the film’s third act: Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, officially names the team the “New Avengers”. The team consists of Elena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Scarlet Witch (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Phantom (Anna John-Kamen), and Sentry (Lewis Pullman).
The filmʼs director Jake Schreier explained in a comment to The New York Times that the name change was a deliberate part of the marketing plan.
“If Val is trying to pull a stunt and ʼsell’ The New Avengers to the world, we can do it too. Especially considering the asterisk has been in the title of the film for a year. Hopefully it doesn’t come across as forced — we planned it all out,” he says.
The director added that Marvel supported the idea with an open marketing "reveal" of the plot.
In a post-credits scene, itʼs revealed that the New Avengers are living in the former Avengers headquarters, now called the Watchtower. The team is also involved in a legal battle with Captain America, played by Anthony Mackie, over the copyright to the Avengers logo.
Captain America: Brave New World ended with Sam Wilson going on a mission to assemble a new team. The Thunderbolts* characters will return next summer in Avengers: Doomsday, where they will likely team up with the original Avengers and Fantastic Four to take on a new mega-villain played by Robert Downey Jr.
Another hint at the future of the franchise appears in the second scene after the credits: the Fantastic Fourʼs ship enters Earthʼs orbit, arriving from another dimension to the teamʼs familiar theme song.
As Schreier told Variety, the scene was filmed about four weeks ago and he wasnʼt the director—it was the work of the Russo brothers on the set of Avengers: Doomsday. Schreier was present during the filming and called it an interesting experience:
"We all worked on the scene to honestly reflect the state of our characters. But we were also taking them into a new world, with a different scale. It was interesting to see them being directed by a different director in a different context," he emphasized.
Marvelʼs next film, Fantastic Four: The First Step*, will be released in theaters on July 25.