Look out Marvel fans! Marvel Studios’ newest movie, Thunderbolts, also known as “The New Avengers” has been released in theatres worldwide. It’s high time we check it out, but first we’ll discuss the reason for the asterisk in the title as well as go over some of the characters you may or may not know/love (depending on how much you love Marvel).

In this article:

• Title Synopsis: We take a look at the new Marvel Studios movie titled Thunderbolt and discuss why there’s an asterisk in the title.

• Character Discussion: We’ll discuss characters from the movie, such as Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Soldier, Taskmaster and more

• Reveal how the movie ties in with the Marvel Studios movie timeline as a whole

Let’s dive in and check it out, spoiler-free!

Title Synopsis

In going about the asterisk in the name of the movie, movie theorists have stated that they believe the title to imply that the Thunderbolts is not actually the official name of the new cast of what Marvel has dubbed “an unconventional team of antiheroes”. Additionally, fans have noticed that there’s been a significant amount of buildup as to the presence of this asterisk in general.

We know from Avengers: Endgame that the Avengers are nowhere to be seen in-universe as of the ending of that movie, timeline-wise. International posters from this movie support this: notice how a Japanese poster for the movie gives way to the fact that, in the poster’s words, the Avengers “are not available”.

Character Discussion

Thunderbolts brings together both familiar faces from the MCU and new characters joining the cinematic universe. Here's a spoiler-free look at the key players:

Returning MCU Characters

• Yelena Belova / Black Widow (Florence Pugh)

• Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)

• Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko)

• Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian (David Harbour)

• John Walker / U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell)

New Characters Introduced

• Sentry (Lewis Pullman) – A mysterious powerhouse with ties to Marvel’s deeper cosmic lore

• Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) – A new character whose role has yet to be fully revealed

With a team made up of antiheroes, don’t expect clean-cut heroics. The Thunderbolts are expected to bend or even break the rules, leading to unpredictable character dynamics—even among those we’ve previously known and trusted.

How Thunderbolts Fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thunderbolts continues Marvel’s exploration of a post-Avengers world. With the original Avengers disbanded or gone, the emergence of a new team brings uncertainty—and potential conflict.

This movie is expected to bridge several MCU storylines, especially from the Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye series, creating a more complex, morally gray corner of the Marvel Universe.

Conclusion

With a witty marketing scheme revolving around the movie’s title and the premise of the movie being unlike any other superhero movie, we’d like to ask you:

Did the title of the movie puzzle you as much as it did us?

Are you excited to see familiar and unfamiliar faces alike alongside each other?

We sure are! Let us know if you’ve already seen the movie or plan to soon and if you already did, what you thought of it.