New Thunderbolts* Posters May Have Spoiled The Film’s Biggest Mystery

Thunderbolts* made a big splash with its trailer at the Super Bowl this year, but the real headline might just be from a smaller bit of promo material that fans in international markets received around the same time.

Thunderbolts* has been an understated but important part of Marvel’s rollout for a while now, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first non-Avengers team-up seems all but guaranteed to play a big role in coming events. While there are tons of details about the film that are yet to be answered, the most prominent mystery surrounding the project has been the asterisk that was added to its title, which has been the focus of all sorts of MCU theories. Stars of the film and even major figures at Marvel Studios have also been playing into the mystery, refusing to give a straight answer as to what it means.

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While events like Marvel’s SDCC presentation failed to answer that pressing Thunderbolts* question, some of the promotional material released alongside the film’s Super Bowl LIX promo spot has been a bit more forthcoming. As highlighted by The Direct, some of the posters for the film released for international markets alongside the Super Bowl spot feature the asterisk as a prominent design feature, showing different characters in each prong of the symbol. However, more noteworthy than that is the annotation featured on the posters, which read, “*THE AVENGERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE.” While a bit anticlimactic, this tagline could be the answer fans have been looking for this entire time. The asterisk is a symbol and a reminder that these characters aren’t anyone’s first choice to save the day. The main text of the poster, which reads “Not Super, Not Heroes, Not Giving Up,” also seems to back up this view.

This answer to the asterisk question also gels with Thunderbolts* star David Harbour’s hints about the meaning behind the title’s asterisk, as well as Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine statement to a panel of government officials in the trailer, where she says, “Let’s talk facts, the Avengers are not coming.” While this is the closest to an official answer that fans have gotten so far, it’s important to note that the asterisk could mean more than one thing, or nothing at all. It really all depends on Kevin Feige, who has teased withholding the answer until after the film premieres. Whatever else it happens to be, the asterisk has been a pretty useful marketing tool and has now even become the motif for some of the film’s posters. Realistically, all that is justification enough without it needing to symbolize any significant plot detail.

It’s a fair ask that this team of misfits be characterized by the differences between them and the Avengers, and it should be an interesting way to see a group of soon-to-be heroes come together. However, it seems like a rendition that will only be here for one project. Fans know that Harrison Ford’s POTUS is indeed looking to reassemble the Avengers, as one Captain America: Brave New World clip already confirmed that interesting plot point ahead of the premiere. While it’s not clear if this is a conversation from the beginning of the film, doomed to be made inert by the plot, or a resolution from the end, the next two Avengers films have managed to keep the branding despite making switches to exclude Jonathan Majors, so it’s safe to assume that a more traditional Avengers team will form under the new Captain America, regardless of federal funding. When that happens, the odds are high that the Thunderbolts also join up despite their pasts. This isn’t even novel, as the Hulk, Black Widow, and even Hawkeye have all been on the wrong side of the law in the past.

All told the film is getting close to its theatrical release now, and fans can look forward to having their theories validated or disproven by Feige after it premieres. In the meantime, there’s a lot to look forward to about the film itself. Sebastian Stan’s Thunderbolts* comments provide a positive sign that the film will be enjoyable, and not just to audiences that have become numb to the CGI-fests that superhero films have become in recent years.

Thunderbolts* is set for theatrical release on May 2, 2025.

Thunderbolts*

Release Date

May 2, 2025

Director

Jake Schreier

Writers

Lee Sung-jin, Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo

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Source: The Direct