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Be warned: Spoilers about the end of Thunderbolts* are about to be discussed. Don't read further unless you have seen the movie.

Quick question: what’s the name of the Marvel Studios movie that’s just opened in theaters?

That feels like a trick question, and therein lies the problem. From its announcement through opening, the movie was titled Thunderbolts — or, as of April 2024, Thunderbolts* with the asterisk at the end, something that was specifically called out by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige onstage at CinemaCon 2024, so we knew it was important.

The asterisk was so important, in fact, that it became a recurring point of the movie’s promotion, to the point of being the focus of promotional videos ahead of release. The movie’s cast would talk about it in interviews, as well; with David Harbour going so far as to call out the subtext at one point: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that’s had people go, ‘What does this mean? Is this the title? Is this not the title?’” he said in an interview published a couple of months before the movie opened.

And then, the movie itself ended with the answer everyone had been looking for, with a title card that read 'The New Avengers.'

So… is Thunderbolts* actually called The New Avengers?

Before Thunderbolts*: The Mighty Marvel Makeover, Take 1

Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers isn’t the first time Marvel has pulled this trick — Marvel actually had the title carder the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier change into Captain America and the Winter Soldier in the final episode of that show, to reflect Sam Wilson’s new role at the end of the series — but that wasn’t an official re-titling of the series, which remains The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+ and in official Marvel materials. Mind you, that project didn’t have an asterisk attached to its name all the way through production and promotion; it also only changed the title in one episode out of its six episode run. Should we expect the same of the new Marvel movie?

Before Thunderbolts*: The Mighty Movie Makeover, Take 1

On the face of it, Marvel Studios isn’t going to change the name of Thunderbolts* any time soon, having spent so long promoting it under that title. But if it chose to, it wouldn’t be the first big budget superhero movie to undergo a title change during theatrical release. Back in 2020, Warner Bros’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) found itself with a new title in multiple theaters across the US, getting retitled as Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey in AMC, Cinemark Theaters, and Regal Cinema chains. Despite rumors at the time, however, Warner Bros wasn’t behind the change; it was made by theater owners in an attempt to better focus audiences on who and what the movie was about.

The long-term future of Thunderbolts* title is one that we’ll probably have to wait some time to see settled. Marvel is still referring to it as Thunderbolts* in promotion as of writing, but it’s still opening weekend. Let’s see if it still keeps that title by the time it shows up on Disney+…

Thunderbolts* (or maybe The New Avengers) is in theaters now.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• The MCU needs Anya Taylor-Joy's Magik in it (and not just for the X-Men connection)
• How Disney+'s What If...? is the moonshot for the next 50 years of Marvel Studios & the MCU
• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade
• In 2021, Sony's boss said people won't miss Spider-Man in its Spider-adjacent movie. Turns out, they do.