The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolts*, opened May 2nd. Named after the comic series that began in the 90’s, fans couldn’t help but notice the title had an asterisk at the end. The name of the movie had been known for quite a while, but Marvel wasn’t cluing anyone in on what it meant. We found out what the asterisk refers to at the very end of the movie, but that was just the beginning of this clever trick.

Thunderbolts*, directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, is an ensemble team movie featuring antagonists and anti-heroes from various corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an attempt to clean up her loose ends, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine tries to get Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ghost, and Taskmaster to kill each other, but they end up finding an amnesiac named Bob and teaming up for their own safety. Joined by Winter Soldier and Red Guardian, they become an official team at the end of the movie. Only, they’re not the Thunderbolts. They are the New Avengers. This was the title Marvel had in mind all along.

This title change/reveal re-contextualizes everything. The comic book Thunderbolts are usually a team of villains who have to perform heroic deeds for one reason or another. The New Avengers, on the other hand, are a different animal. The name was first used post-Avengers Disassembled to launch a new title where the Avengers had to rebuild from the ground up. This was the title that re-introduced Sentry (who had erased his existence from everyone’s memories) to the Marvel Universe and made him an Avenger who was as powerful as he was unstable. Norman Osborn (most commonly known as the Green Goblin but calling himself Iron Patriot at the time) took control of the Avengers and filled the roster with disguised Thunderbolts. This team was known as The Dark Avengers.

It’s possible the MCU Thunderbolts/Avengers will go the route of the Dark Avengers, especially since Bob/Sentry/Void is such an integral part of the team. Valentina seems to be filling the roles of Norman Osborn and Victoria Hand. But what we do know from the end of Thunderbolts* is that these New Avengers will find themselves in a fight just to retain the name.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, how is Marvel responding? Apparently by changing their advertisements to the movie’s real name. Billboards that once advertised Thunderbolts* are now proudly proclaiming *The New Avengers. Even though this spoils the ending for those who didn’t catch it opening weekend, it’s a brilliant marketing strategy. Provided it doesn’t confuse too many people who think these are two separate movies, it does signal to the audience that this movie is a direct lead-in to next year’s Avengers: Doomsday.

Thunderbolts* made $76 million, opened at number 1 at the box office, and has been reviewed quite favorably. Thunderbolts* or *The New Avengers or however you want to call it is currently playing in theatres everywhere.

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