Who would have guessed that punctuation would be one of the defining points of conversation around the Avengers' first real replacement team in theMCU? But as soon as Kevin Feige revealed the addition of the asterisk toThunderbolts*' title, the studio unlocked a subtly genius marketing tool: fan speculation.
Thunderboltsnever really made much sense as a title, given the fact that Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross - who has the same nickname as the team, of course - doesn’t appear, and seems to have nothing to do with the team. Instead, they’re brought together thanks to (or in spite of)Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The Contessas doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
Adding an asterisk fundamentally added mystery to theupcoming MCU team, suggesting that either the title would change - not unlikeAgatha All Along’s multiple titles - or that a story development would change the expectation of them being a team. ThefirstThunderbolts*traileradded further weight to that second line of thinking, but it’s the newest trailer that seems to offer the most evidence of what’s going on.
The New Thunderbolts* Trailer Hints At The Team Getting A Different Name
Wait, Was It Just A Joke All Along?
At the end ofthe newThunderbolts*trailerthat was released at Disney’s D23 Brazil event, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky notably says “we can’t call ourselves that” after Red Guardian tries the name out and the next shot sees the asterisk pointedly added to the title card. It feels like an in-universe admission of what some have long suspected: that absolutely isn’t their official name.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts*: Everything You Need To Know
With the MCU’s Thunderbolts* movie having now officially released, here’s everything you need to know about the Marvel film and its story.
It looks like the asterisk was always just a joke - mostly at Red Guardian’s expense.He believes “The Thunderbolts” is a “cool name” as he says in the trailer, but the rest of the team seem particularly averse to the suggestion. In effect, the antiheroes get the opportunity to do something the Avengers never could, rejecting the name someone else thrusts upon them. Whether that will actually lead to a retitle of the movie is unclear, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It feelsmore likely that the team will simply get a new official name by the end of the movie.
Thunderbolts* Can Address A Long-Running Issue With The Team’s Original Name
Thunderbolt Ross Was Never Important
While it’s widely believed that the Thunderbolts were named after “Thunderbolt” Ross, that’s not the case. The duplicate of the names was actually completely coincidental - a trend the MCU seems to be following. In the comics, the team claimed they were actually named after a line from a Thomas Randolph poem, which would become their mantra: “Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men’s ruin, but to all men’s fear.”
Somewhat problematically, Thomas Randolph apparently never wrote that line.Creator Kurt Busiek seemingly misattributed the line after an issue of Captain Marvel quoted it first: it was later revealed to have been written by 14th century Irish archbishop Milo Sweetman. It would be absolutely fitting that Red Guardian - a man already known for his hubris - would take the same line as inspiration and attempt to name the team after it. Unless he’s a fan of Red Hulk, it seems unlikely he’ll suggest the name in his honor.
The association with Thunderbolt Ross came later, when Red Hulk joined the team. In-universe, that could well be why Bucky balks at the name, which is actually a lot cooler than the team give Red Guardian credit for if you take the original name origin into account. Which becomes rather difficult when the man sharing the same name is literally the President of the United Stated, and all of the associated connotations.
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) already expressed her disdain for the idea of the Avengers inBlack Widow, and mocked things like “superhero poses”, and as a lone wolf, her rejecting a jingoistic name would make sense. It would also fit the logic of the other characters, who are outsiders and loners, and who may not accept Red Guardians enthusiasm for a unifying mantra, if that is indeed the source of the name. That does, however, present the problem that they will absolutely need a name…
What The Thunderbolts* Team Could Be Called
Will They Be Avengers By Another Name?
The othermost persistent rumor around the team name inThunderbolts*centers on The Dark Avengers, a far cooler monicker that fits the antiheroes' modus operandi of black ops missions and off-book wet work. The problem with that, of course, is that the Dark Avengers are an existing Marvel Comics team who were villain impostors disguised as legitimate heroes. That’s clearly not the case here.
It wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility for the name to be repurposed if Marvel Studios had no plans to make a pure adaptation of the Dark Avengers, but that would be a shame. Butthe antiheroes using theSecret Avengers team-namethat was officially given to Captain America’s splinter team of Avengers who debuted inAvengers: Infinity War,would be more appropriate. They, too, worked from the shadows in the wake ofCaptain America: Civil War’s events, and it feels more fitting for Bucky to be part of a team without an ominous name.
Bucky has wrestled with his own Winter Soldier legacy for years, and is clearly invested in helping other superpowered individuals with “red in their ledgers” inThunderbolts*and for him to accept the “Dark Avengers” name doesn’t quite scan. And as one of the longest serving heroes in the MCU, Bucky deserves to be able to still call himself an Avenger, frankly.
Thunderbolts*
Cast
Thunderbolts follows seven disillusioned individuals who find themselves trapped in a perilous situation. Tasked with a daunting mission, they must face the most shadowy aspects of their histories in order to survive and achieve their goals.
