SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Thunderbolts*. If you have not yet seen the new Marvel blockbuster, proceed at your own risk!
It was a little over a year ago that the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster got an odd title change. Taking the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during the Disney presentation at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that the developing feature Thunderbolts would henceforth be known as Thunderbolts* – with an emphasis on the new and mysterious asterisk. An explanation wasn’t provided for the new punctuation, with the executive/filmmaker instead simply teasing, “we won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.”
Now Thunderbolts* is out, and we know why that little elevated star exists. While the team at the center of the movie is assembled and briefly identified as the Thunderbolts (named after Yelena Belova’s terrible childhood soccer team), the big finale reveals that the roster of misfits is actually Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s New Avengers. As an extension of this, New Avengers is actually the blockbuster’s secret title – seemingly officially confirmed by the end credits.
Overall, I like the direction in which the in-canon development points, with the New Avengers butting heads with Sam Wilson’s Avengers as the universe grapples with the arrival of the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom. What I don’t love, however, is the attempted title reveal gambit, and in my mind, it marks the second time that Marvel Studios has whiffed in that department.
The “Big Reveal” With The Thunderbolts Asterisk Was A Little Too Obvious
With the title change I noted in the first paragraph, the goal of Marvel Studios was to create an air of mystery around Thunderbolts* and influence a year-plus of speculation. The filmmakers and executives/departments that conjured the idea clearly wanted people to ask the specific question, “What does the asterisk mean?” and ponder potential answers. It wasn’t just for niche comic book fans either; it’s the name of the film, and all movie-goers would hopefully question the punctuation. Then they would go see the blockbuster during its opening weekend in order to either affirm their suspicions or have their minds blown by something unexpected.
Ideally, a marketing plot like this would result in a nice split… but that doesn’t feel true in this particular case. The Thunderbolts, being a surreptitious way of assembling a new version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroe,s always seemed like the most obvious answer to the presented riddle, and I was hoping for something a bit more advanced.
One need not look further than the comics on which the movie is based for inspiration. The project is named after a standout development in the late 1990s Marvel Comics that saw the Avengers killed and the publication introduce a new series called Thunderbolts. It was said that the team was going to be a new group of heroes, but the first issue revealed the roster as being the Masters of Evil in disguise – eventually dubbed the Dark Avengers. It was a well-orchestrated surprise… and not one that could be replicated by Marvel Studios.
Again, I’ll note that I like the idea of a New Avengers vs. Avengers conflict brewing in the MCU, but it feels like the franchise worked really hard to drum up buzz for a shock that isn’t at all shocking.
As A Fan, I’m Not Sure What I’m Supposed To Call The Movie Now
The other issue that the reveal presents is a unique conflict regarding how the movie is meant to be discussed – and I’ll admit that this is significant in my mind specifically because, as an MCU fan and CinemaBlend editor, I’m going to be writing about it a lot in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. Simply put: are we meant to continue to call the movie Thunderbolts* (as I have been throughout this article), or are we meant to refer to it as New Avengers from now on?
At a certain point in the theatrical run, are marquees going to change? Are there going to be new TV spots and trailers developed? Will new posters be printed and sent out to cinemas? How will the movie be marketed when it goes to home video, both on digital platforms and when it comes to cover art for 4K UHD and Blu-ray? There are no indications anywhere to dictate conversation.
The film presently feels caught in a weird no man’s land, branding-wise. Perhaps it’s a bit too spoiler-y, but it feels like the movie is missing a big opportunity to unveil itself broadly now as being New Avengers in the hopes of boosting interest and new buzz in the days leading up to its second weekend.
The Thunderbolts* Asterisk Explanation Reminds Me Of The Disappointing Title Reveal For Avengers: Endgame
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done many things quite well in its nearly two decades of existence, effectively changing the entire landscape of blockbuster filmmaking, but I think we can now say that one thing the franchise doesn’t do particularly well is hyped title reveals. It turns out that what the asterisk in Thunderbolts* was hiding was exactly what you thought it was hiding – and the underwhelming answer reminded me of how I felt when we first learned the title of Avengers: Endgame.
Fans will remember that there was a time when Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were dubbed Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2, but there was a point during their development when that plan was altered: it was decided that the first movie would be called Avengers: Infinity War, and the name of the sequel was maintained as a secret. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo held on to the secret with the intention of letting people “absorb the first movie enough.”
The plan didn’t work out as hoped – and it’s not just me saying that. Prior to the reveal, Kevin Feige went on record saying that the situation had “gotten entirely out of hand” and that the spike in speculation and hype meant that the reveal was inevitably going to fail in trying to live up to expectations. He was right. The title of Avengers: Endgame is a callback to a specific line from Doctor Strange in Avengers: Infinity War, but it’s also pretty damn bland and unimpressive.
Generally speaking, I like the idea of Marvel Studios trying to trip up audiences and zagging left when there is expectation for it to zig to the right, but title reveals don’t seem to work out particularly well for the franchise, perhaps because it’s a victim of its own hype machine. I’m still lightly confused and disappointed by the Thunderbolts* title… but at least I liked the movie!
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