Thunderbolts* ends with the surprise formation of the New Avengers, something Marvel Studios isn't holding back from promoting heading into the movie's second weekend in theaters.
While *The New Avengers isn't the movie's official title, the expectation is that the reveal will increase interest and ensure the positively reviewed MCU movie doesn't suffer the same drop as Captain America: Brave New World after it opened.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Thunderbolts* writer Eric Pearson was asked whether it was always the plan to introduce the MCU's New Avengers here.
"That was a Kevin [Feige] thing," he confirmed. "I told him I wanted to do a Thunderbolts movie and the way in was going to be through Yelena bringing them together against Valentina. I tried one pitch that didn’t work, and the second pitch was very, very close to the movie that we have now."
"I ended the pitch with Yelena whispering in Valentina’s ear, 'You work for us now,' essentially. So I pitched that Valentina is forced to introduce the Thunderbolts [to the public], and Kevin said, 'I think that she should call them the Avengers.' And I was like, 'Whoa, okay!'" Pearson revealed.
"I was like, 'Okay, cool. I don’t know what your plan is for the New Avengers.' And then there were many, many discussions: 'Capital N? Lowercase n? Are they Avengers that are new? Are they the New Avengers?'" he added. "But that was Kevin’s idea, and it’s part of some four-dimensional chess plan that I don’t totally know yet."
So, the decision was made while the movie was still being written and came directly from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. With the Russo Brothers directing Thunderbolts*'s post-credits scene on the set of Avengers: Doomsday a few weeks ago, some speculated that it might have been a last-minute decision. Clearly not.
Commenting on the stinger, Pearson said, "I can’t take credit for that tag scene either. I believe [co-writer] Joanna Calo wrote that, and I’m very jealous of it. It’s so funny and good. One of my favorite parts of the whole movie is John Walker saying, 'I don’t know what any of these buttons do, nobody labeled them.' [Laughs] That, for me, is one of the funniest things."
The writer, who has taken a crack at Blade for Marvel Studios, said he "cannot talk about the Blade situation," but did share a brief tease for The Fantastic Four: First Steps when he revealed, "I will share a proper noun: Galactus. That’s all I’m going to say."
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters.