Talking at CinemaCon earlier this week, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed the asterisk in Thunderbolts*' title is significant but won't be something they'll talk about until after the movie's release.
Needless to say, speculation has gone into overdrive. We've wondered for a while whether the team is named after President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Many fans have since doubled down on that after Captain America: Brave New World footage showed the General pressuring Sam Wilson into assembling a new team of Avengers.
Theories range from the "Thunderbolts" name being an ironic nod to the President after he likely transforms into Red Hulk to the team we've seen in concept art not being the real Thunderbolts (instead, they'd be a decoy team or a Task Force X-like group meant to die in battle).
However, the most compelling theory is that Thunderbolts* ends with the revelation that this team is, in fact, the MCU's Dark Avengers.
The Sentry's presence may confirm that, and once the likes of Bucky and Yelena Belova are taken out of play, then we could end up with a villainous team of Avengers which counts the likes of U.S. Agent and Ghost among its ranks. Crucially, they'd be controlled by the U.S. Government and Val, a far cry from past iterations.
Here are some of the most compelling theories we've seen shared online...
Confirmed cast members for Thunderbolts* include Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.
Recently, Geraldine Viswanathan replaced Ayo Edebiri in an undisclosed role, while Lewis Pullman has taken over as The Sentry following Steve Yeun's shock departure from the movie. Both he and Edebiri are said to have left due to scheduling issues.
Written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo, and directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is currently set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.