Thunderbolts* Title Change: More on if the MCU Movie Is Part of the Avengers Franchise

Marvel and Disney have revealed whether or not Thunderbolts* is getting an official title change following the asterisk twist.

Thunderbolts* was released in United States theaters this past weekend. Directed by Jake Schreier, the MCU movie stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds/Sentry, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

At the end of Thunderbolts*, the titular team is about to confront Valentina when she surprises them by luring them into a press conference. During said press conference, Valentina announces that this team of anti-heroes will now be called the New Avengers.

Since the movie’s opening weekend release, Marvel Studios has begun changing billboards, posters, and other marketing material so that the film’s title now reads as The New Avengers. Stan was even spotted putting up new posters for the movie with The New Avengers titles at bus stops.

Is Thunderbolts* getting a new official title following the asterisk twist?

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the official title of the MCU movie will still be Thunderbolts*, as the change in marketing is “a way to drum up post-opening interest in the film.”

“The last thing [Marvel] wants is to create consumer chaos and have people thinking that next year’s Avengers: Doomsday is Thunderbolts 2 or, conversely, that the latter is part of the official Avengers series,” the article reads.

Having said that, Pugh, Stan, Russell, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen will all star in Avengers: Doomsday, which is currently in production. Whether or not they will also return for the sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, remains to be seen.

Thunderbolts * is now playing in United States theaters. Avengers: Doomsday, meanwhile, arrives on May 1, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars then comes on May 7, 2027.