Spoilers for the ending and both credits scenes of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*. The asterisk is explained by the ending: Valentina Allegra de Fontaine rebrands the surviving Thunderbolts as the New Avengers. The six members are Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent and Bob Reynolds, also known as Sentry. There are two credits scenes: a mid-credits joke about the team’s new public image, then a final scene set 14 months later that brings an Avengers-name dispute and a Fantastic Four-marked spacecraft.
What does the asterisk in Thunderbolts* mean?
At the end of the film, Valentina uses a public appearance to present the surviving Thunderbolts as a government-facing Avengers team. The title card changes to reveal “The New Avengers,” making the asterisk an in-story branding gag: the title has been hiding the name Valentina gives the group. ELLE’s ending explainer describes the rebrand and the resulting roster.
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Thunderbolts* - 4K + Blu-ray + Digital | $44.79 | Buy on Amazon |
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Marvel Studios: Thunderbolts* (2025) [Blu-ray] | $34.95 | Buy on Amazon |
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Thunderbolts* (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray) | $41.20 | Buy on Amazon |
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Thunderbolts* | $19.99 | Buy on Amazon |
This is not the return of the original Avengers lineup. It is a newly assembled team, and the name Valentina announces does not establish that every person—or the public—accepts her claim to the Avengers identity.
Who are the New Avengers?
The rebranded team consists of six surviving Thunderbolts:
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- After being ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes assembles and embarks on a dangerous mission. Forced to confront the darkest corners of their pasts, will the group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and prevail?
- Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)
- Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
- Alexei Shostakov, the Red Guardian (David Harbour)
- Ava Starr, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)
- John Walker, U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell)
- Bob Reynolds, Sentry (Lewis Pullman)
D23’s Thunderbolts character guide also lists Taskmaster among the film’s Thunderbolts, but she is not part of the six-person group rebranded at the end. Valentina orchestrates and brands the team; she is not one of its field members.
What happens in the mid-credits scene?
In the first credits scene, Red Guardian notices New Avengers branding on a cereal box and takes it as a personal victory. The joke suggests Valentina’s name has reached the public, but it does not prove that people broadly trust or support the team. The Los Angeles Times’ account of the credits scenes distinguishes this brief mid-credits moment from the later stinger.
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- Can this disparate group of antiheroes overcome their difficult pasts and form a real team capable of stopping the Void and saving the world?
What happens after all the credits?
The final scene jumps 14 months ahead. At the Watchtower, the New Avengers discuss Sam Wilson’s objection to their use of the Avengers name. Yelena says he is threatening legal action. The scene presents a dispute, not a settled legal outcome, and it does not reveal Sam’s complete Avengers roster.
Then the team detects an incoming spacecraft. Its hull bears a “4” and the Fantastic Four insignia. That is the scene’s concrete connection to the Fantastic Four: it shows the ship arriving, but not a meeting with its occupants or the full story of how it got there.
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What is explicit
- Valentina rebrands the surviving Thunderbolts as the New Avengers.
- The announced team is Yelena, Bucky, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent and Bob/Sentry.
- The final stinger takes place 14 months after the main story and depicts tension over the Avengers name.
- The New Avengers detect a spacecraft marked with the Fantastic Four insignia.
What remains unresolved
- Sam Wilson’s objection hints at a competing claim to the Avengers identity, but the scene does not name his full team.
- The scenes do not establish whether the public accepts Valentina’s team as the Avengers.
- The arriving ship sets up a connection to the Fantastic Four; it does not confirm an alliance, confrontation or specific crossover plot.
The identity conflict also fits the film’s emotional thread. Director Jake Schreier described the characters’ chance to choose connection and move forward together: “It’s about being in a place and how you get out of it; in this world it’s really about saving yourself and saving each other. Yes, they’re saving the world.” Schreier made the comment in a D23 interview on May 2, 2025.
