The asterisk, Bob, and end credits: All your burning ‘Thunderbolts' questions answered (spoilers!)

Yahoo

02-05-2025

Warning: This story contains scads of spoilers for Thunderbolts. Proceed at your peril.
Here's a major Thunderbolts spoiler alert: We find out what the asterisk stands for.
More from GoldDerby
Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, Timothy Simons, and every 'Nobody Wants This' Emmy acting submission
'The Four Seasons' co-creators explain their decision to kill [spoiler] - and Tina Fey's remarkable performance in response: 'She's really good'
Tom Cruise flies, Brad Pitt drives, dinosaurs attack, and Superman is back: The 25 must-see summer movies
That's not the only revelation from this weekend's would-be blockbuster, but it's a biggie (more on that below). The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings together a reluctant crew of misfits, antiheroes, and castoffs from prior films — Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Habour), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) — to stop a seemingly all-powerful supervillain. There's also Bob (more on him below, too).
As with the arrival of any new MCU entry, there are many questions. We've got your answers.
Does this even count as a question at this point? The mysterious character played by Lewis Pullman, identified as only Bob in the trailer and other promotion materials, was spoiled years ago by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Kirkman's pal and former Walking Dead player Steven Yeun had originally been cast in the part, and Kirkman announced that Yeun would be playing the Sentry, a near-omnipotent being with an unstable psyche whose dark side manifests as the nefarious Void. Yeun eventually dropped out due to post-strike scheduling conflicts, but Bob remained.
Bob is a bumbling, mild-mannered amnesiac whose powers are unleashed by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but the conflict between Bob's dueling personas wreaks havoc on the world. With the Avengers long gone, it's up to the Thunderbolts to find a way to stop Bob/Sentry/Void from wiping out New York City.
In the end, after the Thunderbolts take talk him down, Bob is seemingly back to normal-ish and a member of the team.
Marvel Studios
As anyone who has seen the movie poster has undoubtedly noticed, the not-so super team features a star at the end of their name. By the time the credits roll, the audience is told why. The name 'Thunderbolts' — borrowed from the storied, shambolic childhood soccer team of Yelena coached by Alexei — turns out to be a placeholder. Following the climactic battle, Valentina, the shady mastermind behind the dysfunctional heroes, introduces them to the press as... the New Avengers.
Marvel Studios
In the comics, the New Avengers were a rotating team of heroes, whose roster included, among many others, Bucky (as his spin on Captain America), Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage.
You bet your sweet asterisk they will. In fact, the end credits declare: "The New Avengers and Bob will return." Expect to see Yelena, Bucky, Red Guardian, Ghost, (RIP, Taskmaster) and Bob face off against Robert Downey Jr.'s Dr. Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.
This is a non-spoiler, of course, since the Thunderbolts' stars were included in March's painfully drawn-out roll call of actors to appear in the next Avengers epic.
You know it, true believers. The mid-credits scene is played for laughs, featuring Harbour's uncostumed Alexei finally getting his dream of being on a box of Wheaties (paying off a line from earlier in the film) and unsuccessfully trying to convince a woman in a grocery story to buy the cereal.
But stick around after the credits for a scene that tees up a fantastic Phase Six. The extended stinger (clocking in at 2 minutes, 54 seconds, a new MCU record) takes place 14 months later and finds the team headquartered in the old Avengers Tower, now called the Watchtower. Bucky tells them that he has talked to Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie), who is none too pleased about the latest hero collective assembling on the block. Red Guardian thinks he can solve the burgeoning beef with a quick rebrand, ordering up a line of "New Avengerz" racing suits, but the others have their doubts.
Suddenly the gang is alerted to a potential "extra-dimensional" threat coming from outer space. They call up a satellite image and see a retro-looking rocket ship approaching Earth. As the vessel turns, the number four comes into focus.
Not coincidentally, the next film up in the MCU is The Fantastic Four: First Steps, arriving in theaters on July 25.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Jake Schreier says that scene was shot a month ago specifically for Avengers: Doomsday. Although he was present on set, he was not directing the sequence. Doomsday is being helmed by MCU stalwarts Anthony and Joe Russo and is set for release on May 1, 2026.
Best of GoldDerby
All 35 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies ranked, ahead of 'Thunderbolts' debut
Wes Anderson movies: All 11 films ranked worst to best
Penelope Cruz movies: 16 greatest films ranked worst to best
Click here to read the full article.