New Rumor Says THUNDERBOLTS* Will Actually Serve As Direct Marvel Sequel

Fans are looking forward to a brand new group of superheroes teaming up in the MCU in the film Thunderbolts*.

Besides the great cast, including Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julie Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as The Sentry, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, we don’t know a whole lot about the plot.

And now the movie has seemed even a little more shrouded in mystery since the addition of the asterisk in the film’s title about a month ago.

Now we have a new rumor to chew on regarding the story. According to trusted scooper Alex Perez (via CBM), "Thunderbolts* is "just a Black Widow sequel the same way Civil War was a Captain America sequel... Yelena’s handling Red Room remnants and then gets sidetracked with Thunderbolts*."

Seeing as Thunderbolts* features characters like Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster, it’s obvious that fans have suspected the story would tie to Black Widow, but a direct sequel is an interesting twist. Bucky and U.S. Agent's presence on the team also creates a significant link to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. 

The Hollywood Reporter may have even confirmed this in a recent article, which reveals, "[Florence] Pugh, 28, earned an eight-figure payday for two Marvel films, first the Scarlett Johansson-led Black Widow then Thunderbolts, where she will be at the top of the call sheet."

As far as the asterisk in the title is concerned, when MCU boss Kevin Feige revealed the title, he said: "Yes, you'll notice the asterisk on Thunderbolts*. That is the official title of Thunderbolts* and we won't talk more about that until after the movie comes out."

So we won’t get any answers on that just yet, but fans are speculating, and they have assumed the title change is leading to a big reveal, which will potentially set the stage for the Dark Avengers to assemble.

I think when Marvel made the changes in slowing down and refocusing their attention on what they produce, they may have returned to what made the movies exciting in the beginning. Only time will tell. It all hinges on great storytelling, and I hope that’s what we see in the coming films.

Thunderbolts* is set to his theaters on May 5, 2025. In the meantime, we’ve got Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26, 2024, and Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, 2025.