Marvel's new Thunderbolts trailer reveals who bought Avengers Tower and finally addresses that asterisk, suggesting a name change
"So what, do we all just punch and shoot?"
A new trailer for the MCU's upcoming Thunderbolts movie finally addresses key questions we've been asking for some time, like what's up with that asterisk in the title?
The latest look at the movie sees antiheroes Yelena, Winter Soldier, Red Guardian, Ghost, John Walker, Taskmaster, and Bob, played by Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, and Lewis Pullman respectively.
As with any good MCU ensemble film, the new trailer shows us there will be plenty of fight scenes between the unlikely allies. When Bucky saves Yelena, Red Guardian, Ghost, and Walker from a hostile convoy, he then blows their car up, too. And Yelena, Ghost, and Walker all duke it out in some sort of storage room.
They're all calm when they meet CIA head Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in Avengers Tower. She reveals that the CIA bought it, saying "this place wasn't cheap, but it's got good optics."
Don't get too attached to the name Thunderbolts, though. When Red Guardian screams passionately, "we are the Thunderbolts!", Bucky shakes his head and says, "we can't call ourselves that." An asterisk then appears on the film's title card, suggesting a change could be coming before the film's May 2, 2025 release date.
I'm actually excited for this film, which isn't something I was sure I'd say about the MCU again. It looks like a much more grounded approach to a teamup, using some interesting characters from the shows and later movies as well as introducing us to some new ones. I'm also glad it's a movie and not another series I need to dedicate six hours to.
I am curious about Bob, also known as Sentry. Pullman says he doesn't know if he'll be a villain or a hero, but would "enjoy going in either direction."
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If you want to get to grips with the backstories of everyone we see in the trailer, check out our Marvel timeline guide so you can watch all the shows and films you need to, in order.
I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.