Spoilers ahead for Thunderbolts*.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding, thanks to new projects arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The latest movie to hit theaters is Jake Schreier's Thunderbolts*, which put a motley crew of antiheroes together. The movie's ending finally revealed what the asterisk meant, and the studio is already changing its title for billboards and more. Now the director has given his honest thoughts bout Marvel spoiling Thunderbolts* for anyone who couldn't go opening weekend.
The ending of Thunderbolts* revealed that the scrappy team is actually being branded the New Avengers by Valentina, in one final, satisfying twist. This was an effective punctuation on the movie, but the movie's marketing is starting to reveal the team's true name. Schreier spoke to The New York Times about this strategy, saying:
Especially given that the asterisk has been on the movie for a year, hopefully it doesn’t feel sweaty — it feels like this was a plan and we built up to it.
He's not wrong. Rather than the New Avengers reveal being totally out of the blue, the asterisk in Thunderbolts* has hinted all along that it isn't the team's real name. And as such, he's hoping that fans appreciate that twist ending, and the implications that the reveal comes with for upcoming Marvel movies.
While security keeps things under wraps before Marvel movies go to theaters, after that their contents usually are spoiled online. Indeed, the Thunderbolts* ending has found its way onto social media, which is likely part of the reason why the studio decided to take control over the narrative. They're doing the title change themselves, which Schreier said was them "embracing" the way the internet works. The filmmaker went on to say:
It’s so interesting in this world, and Kevin talks about it sometimes, where sometimes they wanted things to leak and they don’t. I think we all assumed that it would be a bigger part of the conversation already, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
With the team officially dubbed the New Avengers, it should be fascinating to see how they end up attempting to save the Earth. Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday live stream confirmed they'll appear in the forthcoming blockbuster, alongside OG stars of the X-Men movies, as well as former Avengers members and the Fantastic Four. In fact, the latter team's arrival was teased during Thunderbolts*' credits scene.
Personally I'm invested in the New Avengers, as Jake Schreier's blockbuster had a moving story, in addition to its action and comedy. I'd like to see them stick around for the long haul, and it's thrilling that a crossover is already confirmed for Doomsday.
Thunderbolts* is in theaters now and Fantastic Four: First Steps will follow suit July 25th as part of the 2025 movie release list.
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