'Thunderbolts' strike out, 'The New Avengers' assemble!

Marvel Studios has officially rebranded its latest film, Thunderbolts, to The New Avengers following its theatrical release on May 1. The asterisk in the original title hinted at this planned narrative twist, which was revealed during the film's end credits and was strengthened through updated promotional materials and social media campaigns.

In the film, a team comprising Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) is assembled by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for a covert mission. Initially adopting the name Thunderbolts as an inside joke, the group is later publicly rebranded as The New Avengers by de Fontaine after completing their mission.

Director Jake Schreier confirmed that this rebranding was part of the film's original script, with the asterisk in the title as a clue for the audience. Marvel Studios embraced this narrative device by releasing a video featuring the cast unveiling new posters with the updated title and updating billboards and theatre signboards accordingly.

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Schreier had, in an interview, stated: "If you want to [still] call it Thunderbolts*,that's okay...The asterisk was part of my last pitch meeting before getting the job. I thought it would be a small thing — we should have one sign, put an asterisk on it, and say, 'Until we come up with something better.' And then they really ran with that and embraced that”.

The cast, including Sebastian Stan and Florence Pugh, participated in a promotional video where they unveiled new posters bearing the updated title. The Instagram video had the caption “ Presenting Marvel Studios #Thunderbolts* #NewAvengers.”

In another Instagram reel shared by Marvel, Bucky Barnes (Stan) is seen carrying posters of The New Avengers and placing them over the original Thunderbolts posters.

The rebranding of Thunderbolts to The New Avengers signifies a strategic move by Marvel Studios to set up future MCU developments, including the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday, in which the new team is expected to appear alongside the legendary characters.

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