Right now, the big question surrounding Thunderbolts* is the presence of that little asterisk at the end of the title. What’s it mean? Why is it there? The question was asked at Comic-Con with no satisfactory answer. And various stars have been asked in recent months, including David Harbour, who reprises his Black Widow role of Red Guardian. Speaking with Comicbook.com, he said…
“I mean, they retroactively put the asterisk [in]. The asterisk was an idea that that someone had… What can I say that’s not going to get me in trouble?… The asterisk is very cool. I understand why people might put an asterisk there. I’m excited for the viewers to see that as well. But I, again, I just can’t say anymore,” he added.
In my personal opinion, the asterisk denotes the fact that the Thunderbolts aren’t really who the team is. As in the comic books, the Thunderbolts is usually a cover for something else. In the beginning, they were the Masters of Evil. Later, it was the Dark Avengers. Both teams of villains, and as seen in this new trailer, the MCU version is also comprised of bad guys, or at least morally flexible ones.
Florence Pugh returns as Yelena Belova, with Sebastian Stan leading the team as Bucky Barnes, Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Wyatt Russell as USAgent, and Lewis Pullman as “Bob” who is The Sentry aka the most powerful character in the world, basically Marvlel’s version of Superman. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is back as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, with Harrison Ford as General Thunderbolt Ross aka the Red Hulk and President of the United States. Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz are also expected to reprise their previous roles.
As seen in the footage, the team is brought together under mysterious circumstances by someone they believe wants them dead. But is that really true? It’s probably just a test.
Marvel is gambling on a film about a team most people have never heard of. It worked for them before with Guardians of the Galaxy, though. Time to give it another whirl.
Directed by Jake Schreier (he’s come a long way since Robot & Frank), Thunderbolts* opens on May 5th 2025.
