Those who saw Thunderbolts* on opening weekend learned the meaning behind the asterisk in the title. The team was actually the New Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It came as a surprise to some, but it was an even bigger surprise when Marvel Studios officially spoiled the twist in new marketing materials that came out shortly after Thunderbolts* opened. It was a controversial decision, but one that Disney has defended. Speaking with Empire for the magazine’s preview coverage of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the studio’s senior vice president of marketing Ryan Stankevich discussed the move, revealing that there were plenty of fans who enjoyed it.
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“Discourse is a great part of the Marvel fan experience,” Stankevich said. “For as many people who complained, we saw a large percentage say they thought it was really clever. Some people also complained we didn’t do *The New Avengers with a ‘z’! But we welcome healthy debate.”
There were many theories about the asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title in the months leading up to the film’s release. It took nearly the entire run time for its meaning to be revealed. At the end of the movie, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine publicly introduces the team — consisting of Yelena, Red Guardian, John Walker, Bucky Barnes, Ghost, and Bob — as the New Avengers as a way to save face following the Sentry debacle. In the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene, audiences learn Sam Wilson has formed his own Avengers team and takes issue with the New Avengers running around.
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The typically secretive Marvel went against the grain just a few days after Thunderbolts* opened. The film was officially rebranded as *The New Avengers on various promotional materials, including posters.
In some ways, running with *The New Avengers fits the outside-the-box methods Marvel used to market Thunderbolts*. Prior to the film’s release, the studio ran a unique campaign that included a trailer riffing on A24’s style and a poster designed as a Wheaties box. However, it’s easy to understand why some fans were upset about this. Not everyone is able to see a film the weekend it comes out, and while people have gotten savvy about dodging spoilers on social media, few expected official Marvel channels to do the spoiling. Early into a movie’s theatrical run, Marvel’s social media accounts usually don’t post anything too revealing in an effort to maintain the film’s surprises. The New Avengers twist is one some viewers wanted to experience for themselves.
That said, Marvel arguably spoiled the events of Thunderbolts* in a far more significant way when the Avengers: Doomsday cast was revealed during a record-breaking livestream event. Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, and Lewis Pullman were all confirmed for Doomsday, but not their Thunderbolts* co-star Olga Kurylenko. That all but guaranteed Kurylenko’s Taskmaster would die in Thunderbolts*, making the character’s unfortunate demise an unsurprising development. It would have been nice if everyone got to experience the New Avengers reveal unspoiled, but this shouldn’t prevent people from enjoying the film.
