Ever since Marvel Studios added an asterisk to the title of Thunderbolts*, everyone has been asking what it means exactly. The best guess is that it’s a placeholder for the team’s actual name, and based on the official poster that’s just been released, it looks like it could be Avengers-related.
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Experience Marvel Studios’ #Thunderbolts* only in theaters May 2025. pic.twitter.com/j9iDjHOoc7
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) September 23, 2024
The official tagline reads, “Careful Who You Assemble” which alludes to the signature call of “Avengers Assemble!”. With that in mind, it’s possible that the team could be getting the ‘Dark Avengers’ mantle, which it also got in the comics.
Marvel changing the title of a team or a character isn’t necessarily a new thing. The show may be called The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but by the end of the series when Sam Wilson becomes the new Cap, the official title reveal at the end was changed to Captain America and The Winter Soldier.
It’s very likely that the Thunderbolts team would just be called that throughout the movie, but by the time the credits role, they will get their official mantle of ‘Dark Avengers’—complete with the obligatory “The Dark Avengers will Return” tease at the end.
With Marvel taking its time to get to the next Avengers movie, multiple fans have suggested that they try and make spinoffs of the Avengers off-shoots. The Marvels had already teased the formation of the Young Avengers with Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop, so a Dark Avengers team-up consisted of villains would be pretty neat.
Then again, this is all just speculation. Hopefully everything will make sense when Thunderbolts* comes to cinemas on May 2, 2025.
