Marvel Studios held the word premiere of Thunderbolts* on Tuesday night along with a number of fan-screenings, which means major plot details - as well as some clips with leaked footage - have inevitably found their way online.
Spoilers from this point on.
Some of the footage is most likely fake (made up from previously released trailers and clips with some AI assistance), but there does appear to be a couple of genuine leaks, including the big team name reveal from the end credits.
As you may have heard by now, that asterisk that was added to the title does indeed signify that the Thunderbolts will be known as the New Avengers going forward. The brief video shows some artwork featuring the team in silhouette, before the "Thunderbolts" title becomes "The New Avengers."
The logo takes some inspiration from the comic books, but the MCU's New Avengers are a very different team to the one that originally assembled on the page.
The movie's post-credits scene confirms that Sam Wilson has formed his own team of Avengers, and is taking legal action against his old pal Bucky's new crew for using the name. Whether they'll all join forces to form an Earth's Mightiest Heroes super-group in Avengers: Doomsday remains to be seen.
We recently got confirmation that the next MCU movie has a fairly standard runtime of 2 hours, 6 minutes, and updated box office estimates predict that Thunderbolts* will take in between $63 million - $77 million domestically over the course of its opening weekend.
This wouldn't be a bad result for a movie with a (relatively) modest budget of $180M (minus additional costs), especially when you take into account that Thunderbolts* is a fairly obscure property without any major A-list stars (Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan are by far the biggest names).
The main cast of the movie (minus Olga Kurylenko) were confirmed to return for Avengers: Doomsday during Marvel's recent live-stream.
Marvel Studios recently announced the exciting news that Son Lux will be scoring Thunderbolts*. The three-member, American experimental band was Oscar and BAFTA- nominated for their score for 2022’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
Returning to their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles are Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The cast also includes newcomers to the MCU—Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer and Wendell Edward Pierce.
Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek and Jason Tamez serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* opens in U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.