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This text accommodates SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*

On Mar. 27, 2024, Marvel Studios revealed a brand new emblem for the beforehand introduced Thunderbolts, titling the film Thunderbolts*. That straightforward asterisk launched quite a few speculative items theorizing the importance of that little piece of punctuation meant for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s thirty sixth movie. The significance of it was given much more weight following CinemaCon 2024, the place Kevin Feige stated audiences would discover out what it meant after the movie was launched.

Properly, now that the movie has been launched, the that means of the asterisk has lastly been revealed. By the top of the movie, the staff is dubbed The New Avengers by Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine to an adoring public who noticed these former killers and anti-heroes save the day. Now trying again, the precise identify of Thunderbolts* was apparent, and the inclusion of The Sentry was a useless giveaway. Here is how the Thunderbolts examine to the New Avengers within the comics, and in addition how Marvel Studios is perhaps merging the New Avengers with one other comedian staff.

Who Are The New Avengers within the Comedian?

The unique roster of The New Avengers within the comics included two previous Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man, in addition to new recruits like Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, and Luke Cage. The staff shortly recruited The Sentry, Echo, and Wolverine throughout the first 12 months of the comedian. In 2012, The New Avengers have been relaunched underneath author Jonathan Hickman in his epic run that led into Secret Wars.

Regardless of being titled “The Avengers,” the comedian centered on the mysterious, shadowy group, the Illuminati, and their mission to save lots of the multiverse from incursions at any value. Thunderbolts* post-credits scene jumps ahead 14 months later and reveals that the staff is conscious of some house challenge, probably hinting at extra multiverse incursions and placing the staff in a tricky spot.

Thunderbolts* appears to mix two core ideas from The New Avengers comics. It takes the unique run of being a staff that kinds in The Avengers’ absence, whereas mixing it with the 2012 incarnation of the staff that offers with heroes prepared to make robust calls. For practically 40 years, The Avengers was the comedian that Marvel would put characters in that could not help their very own solo title. In that means, the concept of the Thunderbolts turning into The New Avengers is a enjoyable inversion of the idea, because the staff primarily consists of D-list supporting characters and villains from different MCU properties now turning into essentially the most well-known identify in superheroics.

Why the Thunderbolts are The New Avengers

The thought of the Thunderbolts* being the MCU’s New Avengers was hiding in plain sight with the inclusion of The Sentry. Regardless of Marvel being coy about revealing who Lewis Pullman’s Bob was within the movie, his id as The Sentry had been recognized for a while. This was a useless giveaway to the staff’s true id, as The Sentry was a major a part of The New Avengers‘ preliminary comedian sequence. Points #7 to #10, from July to September 2005, detailed the untold historical past of The Sentry and his recruitment into The New Avengers.

Inside the universe, positioning the Thunderbolts as The New Avengers makes an excessive amount of sense. The staff, assembled in New York, fights a risk that no single hero might face, much like the staff within the 2012 movie. It even befell within the precise location, as Val had bought Avengers Tower and transformed it into Watchtower, the central base for the Sentry within the comics, and the brand new base of operations for her newly created hero. Whereas The Avengers got here collectively by Nick Fury to save lots of the world, The Thunderbolts have been introduced collectively by Val, a kind of darkish reverse to Fury, to die.

Laying all of it out, it is apparent that Thunderbolts was The New Avengers, and why this unlikely group of anti-heroes would make for the MCU’s New Avengers staff. But it additionally seems that the MCU The New Avengers with one other Marvel staff, the highest fan-theory followers had about Thunderbolts*. The staff is each The New Avengers and The Darkish Avengers.

Who Are the Darkish Avengers and How They Affect ‘Thunderbolts*’

The most well-liked principle surrounding the Thunderbolts* title was that the staff can be revealed to be The Darkish Avengers. This was supported by the inclusion of The Sentry, who later joined The Darkish Avengers after The New Avengers. Additionally, within the Darkish Reign storyline, the Darkish Avengers have been spun off from the Thunderbolts* staff that was fashioned throughout Civil Warfare and Secret Invasion.

The Darkish Avengers noticed Spider-Man foe Norman Osborn / The Inexperienced Goblin undertake the Iron Patriot persona, create a brand new staff of heroes made up of villains and anti-heroes passing as established heroes. Norman Osborn was additionally the top of H.A.M.M.E.R., the reformed and extra deadly model of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was manipulating Bob Reynolds / The Sentry to make use of the Void as his final weapon. The MCU has pulled quite a lot of parts from this storyline for the Thunderbolts*, notably subbing out Norman Osborn for Valentina, who takes the position of the individual making an attempt to control The Sentry whereas additionally taking a staff previously known as The Thunderbolts and parading them out as a brand new staff of Avengers.

The MCU staff couldn’t name this new staff “The Darkish Avengers,” on condition that it would not have regarded good within the universe. Even in Marvel Comics, the staff was publicly often known as The Avengers, with the darkish title solely being a advertising and marketing approach for the comics, and in addition one thing the true Avengers referred to their opposing staff as. Whereas the Thunderbolts* is perhaps known as The New Avengers, additionally they have loads in widespread with The Darkish Avengers. Nevertheless, not like The Darkish Avengers, this MCU Thunderbolts / New Avengers staff appears to genuinely wish to do good.

The MCU appears to have merged the ideas of The New Avengers and The Darkish Avengers for Thunderbolts*. The title card says ‘New Avengers,’ however they’re equally the Darkish Avengers. Now that the Thunderbolts are going underneath the identify New Avengers, can the MCU help two Avengers groups? Would a hypothetical sequel be known as New Avengers? These questions and future solutions make the MCU really feel extra thrilling than it has felt shortly, and extra will seemingly be revealed following Avengers: Doomsday.