With Marvel Studios hosting a premiere and fan screenings for Thunderbolts* yesterday, it was inevitable that spoilers would find their way online. Now, the mystery of the movie’s asterisk has been solved.

Normally, we’d start a spoiler article like this with something along the lines of, “Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters…” However, in a bid to increase buzz for the movie, Marvel Studios hosted fan screenings across the U.S. yesterday and held absolutely nothing back.

Even the post-credits scenes were shown, a courtesy which sometimes isn’t even extended to the press at early screenings. As a result, spoilers are all over social media and Reddit.

So, about that asterisk. While it wasn’t part of the title when Thunderbolts* was first announced, its addition has been a huge talking point among MCU fans for several months now. Social media scoopers were quick to claim that they’d discovered the truth, claiming that it stood for “New Avengers.”

As it happens, they were right. The asterisk in Thunderbolts*‘s title does indeed stand for New Avengers, with the team reportedly given the moniker in a title card that promises they and Lewis Pullman’s “Bob” will return.

The concept of the New Avengers was first introduced by Brian Michael Bendis after the Avengers Disassembled event. With the classic team no more and Avengers Mansion in ruins, Captain America and Iron Man led a very different group of heroes made up of names like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine, and The Sentry.

The “Thunderbolts” being the New Avengers makes sense in the MCU, though it likely means that this is a standalone movie. The plan could be to deliver a follow-up with a team of baddies pretending they’re on the side of the angels or to even head down the Suicide Squad route, but we doubt it.

How do you feel about the Thunderbolts* asterisk standing for New Avengers?

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?

The cast of Thunderbolts* will be led by 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, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman as “Bob.”

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.