The world wasn't prepared for the wave of news from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that followed Kevin Feige’s entry at CinemaCon 2024. There was a Deadpool & Wolverine 9-minute-long clip that was shown, footage for Captain America: Brave New World that the attendees got to see, and a title change announcement for Thunderbolts, which is now being called Thunderbolts* with a new logo. While the title mostly remains the same, the makers have added an asterisk to it, and when quizzed, Kevin was quick to say that they will only reveal the mystery behind the asterisk much later.

This means the confirmed relevance of that asterisk in the title will not be revealed to us anytime soon considering we are over a year away from the release. But what if we tell you that it might be hinting at a Dark Avengers movie that the studio has been contemplating for a long while now?

Decoding The Asterisk In Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* has been one of the most anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe projects ever since it was announced. It brought almost all the anti-heroes under one roof with its first still led by Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova and has been an antagonist to Hawkeye in his standalone show. While everything about the plot and the storyline has been kept neatly under wraps, there were rumors that the film will have no Avengers but only the anti-heroes taking over the world.

But now as the Marvel Studios has added an asterisk to the title and Kevin Feige has chosen to be tight-lipped about the same, there are theories circling on the internet that this could be the Dark Avengers movie that the studio has been planning to shape for a long while now. Thunderbolts* as per a theory (via ComicBook) might become Dark Avengers. The theory comes from the comics where during the Dark Reign post the events of Secret Invasion, the government disbands the existing Avengers.

During the same time, Norman Osborn uses the Avengers title to disguise his team of Anti-Heroes and villains who for the world are equivalent to the already established heroes. However, the members included in Thunderbolts* so far are not entirely capable of being the Dark Avengers. But the fact that they are under Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and President Ross (Harrison Ford), who could use the power vacuum to launch them well.

About Thunderbolts*

The movie is about a group of anti-heroes and villains who are gathered by the government to work for them. The cast of the film includes Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Olgya Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross.

Thunderbolts* is set to hit the big screen across the world on May 5, 2025. 

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