Will “Thunderbolts” Get a New Title? Explaining the Ending and Post-Credits of Marvel’s Latest Film

WARNING – The following article contains spoilers about the ending and post-credit scenes of “Thunderbolts*”. As usual for Marvel films, please skip this if you haven’t seen Marvel’s latest release yet.

Following “Captain America: Brave New World,” comes “Thunderbolts*,” Marvel’s second film of 2025 and the final title of Phase V of the MCU if the original plans remain unchanged. The film features a forced alliance of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell), with the mysterious and powerful Bob, aka Sentry (Lewis Pullman).

This intriguing feature uses its characters—who are depicted as depressed, mourning, and solitary—to address mental health within its narrative framework. The movie’s title, marked with an asterisk, piqued curiosity but was explained at the very end of the film, just before the credits and the two accompanying bonus scenes.

What’s With the Title?

At one point, it seemed the asterisk was a clever notation like those found in disclaimers, hinting that the Thunderbolts were around because “the Avengers are unavailable,” as seen on a poster. However, the film concludes with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) avoiding capture and presenting the characters at a press conference as… the New Avengers.

This makes perfect sense as the movie discusses their absence as well as their legacy. Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), Valentina’s assistant, mentions she was in high school during the Battle of New York in the first Avengers movie. All this leads up to the first part of the credits, highlighted by press clippings critical of those now dubbed “B-Vengers,” ending with the title Thunderbolts*, which flips like a page turn to “The New Avengers.”

Marvel Studios quickly followed suit after the film’s US release, with posters where “Thunderbolts*” shifted to “*The New Avengers” with a “torn” effect. It’s uncertain if the film will be released on video under a different name, or even if it will change while still in theaters. For now, nothing has changed except for some online visuals, and it would be surprising if it went further, as this would mean producing new promotional materials and risking confusing the audience.

“The Ending Was Always Planned This Way”

But this may change later on (in video and streaming). From the beginning, the idea of a temporary title was part of the project: “It was part of the script even before I joined,” director Jake Schreier told us. “A lot of things changed around that scene, but the ending was always planned this way. I believe at one of my last presentation meetings, I mentioned it would be funny to put an asterisk on one of the ads at some point, and people ran with the idea. Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito really embraced it.”

“We then continued to explore how far we could push this idea, thinking there might be something interesting that you’ve never really seen before, with a title that includes an asterisk, and that it could help people talk about the film or reflect on it, giving it a mysterious aura. Because these aren’t very well-known or familiar superheroes, it could generate some interest in the film. But it was honest because it was always part of the story.” And this influences the post-credit scenes.

What Does the First Post-Credit Scene Show?

The first scene is relatively minor and revolves around a joke. It occurs at the very end of the credits, not in the middle. We see Red Guardian in a supermarket, sporting a new look where a mustache has replaced his bushy beard. He stops in front of cereal boxes and suggests to a customer to buy the ones with a photo of the New Avengers on them, which turns out to be a flop, proving they still need some time to be as beloved as Steve Rogers and company.

What Does the Second Post-Credit Scene Entail?

Much longer (lasting 2 minutes and 54 seconds, a record for the MCU) and crucial, it takes place 14 months later in the former Stark Tower, now the HQ of the New Avengers. As mentioned by Bucky, there’s tension with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) over the group’s name, which he claims to own the rights to (since the new Captain America, at the President’s request, was tasked with reforming the team in “Brave New World”). Red Guardian, still the focus, arrives in a suit resembling those worn by race car drivers and proposes a solution: call themselves “Avengerz” (which works better in the original version and with a Russian accent).

Captured by the Russo brothers on one of the future sets of Doomsday (very recently), it also reveals their superhero outfits and the red logo of their group (Sentry seems not to be part of it even though he’s squatting the place), and the atmosphere shifts when mention is made of a spaceship entering Earth’s atmosphere, marked with the Fantastic Four’s logo. This teaser may not have surprised those who saw, in the credits, the mention of the theme music by Michael Giacchino for the awaited movie on July 23, but it raises some questions.

The first question is: who is aboard this spaceship? The most logical answer is obviously “the Fantastic Four,” but it could also be Dr. Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), escaped from their universe (if indeed they come from the same one) and come to invade the Avengers’ Earth like Thanos before. If it is indeed the heroes, the next question is: why have they left their world?

We might also wonder how this happened, but it supports rumors that the quartet will see their world destroyed at the end of their adventure and will be forced to travel to the Avengers’ world, where they will team up in Doomsday on April 29, 2026. If the goal is to intrigue us, in addition to advancing the grand narrative of the MCU, it’s certainly successful.

Comments by Jake Schreier, reported by Maximilien Pierrette in London on April 24, 2025