From start to finish, Hawkeye was one of Marvel Studios’s most solid D+ streaming series. The chemistry between co-leads Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld catalyzed a relatively simple plot, creating an undeniably entertaining 6-part series. While a second season of the show was never announced, it always seemed possible and, over the last two years, rumors and reports made it sound as though it was a sure thing…until recently.
I cannot speak to future plans in the tradition of secrecy. Again, the show coming out, you never know how it’s going to be received and it has been amazing to see how warmly people have taken it and enjoyed it. And it’s been great to see Hailee’s character embraced and sort of land so firmly in the MCU. I sincerely look forward to where that character goes next. And yes, I loved walking on the streets of the MCU and would gladly enjoy doing it again.
-Rhys Thomas
Following a recent interview with Jeremy Renner in which the longtime Marvel star revealed that the studio had given him a “low-ball offer” for a second season of Hawkeye, a pair of Hollywood insiders have shared some unfortunate news about the studio’s disingenuous negotiations.
According to both Jeff “The In” Sneider and Puck’s Matt Belloni, Renner’s report of a low-ball offer by Disney was not an exaggeration but rather a negotiating ploy on the part of the company to ultimately pin the cancellation of the series on the star for turning it down.
They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money. I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount. I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season.
-Jeremy Renner
If accurate, it’s a brutal tactic by Disney, especially given Renner’s commitment to his Marvel role, which wasn’t always what he’d hoped. While fans will ultimately forget that the studio was reportedly ready to move forward with a second season, the news serves as a tough reminder that business is business in Hollywood.
Against all odds, Daredevil: Born Againdelivered a frustratingly fantastic season, arguably the best in the series history dating back to its 2015 Netflix origins. Showrunner Dario Scardapane, who took over mid-production, found a way to utilize the pre-overhaul material while steering the revival back into the familiar and bloody waters fans were asking for in the season’s final two episodes.
Daredevil: Born Again is, from start to finish, a fantastic series. With its hero and its villain equally saturated in blood and emotional trauma, the show examines the futility of pursuing sustainable change without addressing the deeply nested layers of human behavior.
Scardapane’s finale left New York City–and the Man Without Fear–in a very dark place as Mayor Kingpin declared Martial Law and his Anti-vigilante Task Force rounded up the City’s heroes. Those developments set up a very tough path for Matt Murdock in Season 2, which was already well into production by the time Season 1 wrapped its run on D+. With he sophomore season looking as if it will draw inspiration from Marvel Comics recent Devil’s Reign event, it seems clear that yet another confrontation between Daredevil and Kingpin is inevitable. And with Daredevil: Born Again set up as Marvel Television’s flagship IP in its new approach to developing and releasing series, it sounds as though there’s much more story left to tell in and around Hell’s Kitchen…maybe.
Season 2 will come out next year, and then hopefully season 3 and season infinity after that. I think this world is extremely rich, and there are many stories to be told on the streets of New York.
-Brad Winderbaum
In an interview with Awards Buzz, series’ co-star Vincent D’Onofrio explained that while the studio does have plans to move forward with a third season of Daredevil: Born Again, fans are going to have to continue their strong support for the project to ensure it continues.
“If they let us do it, we have a plan,” said D’Onofrio. “It is up to the fans to watch and to get excited. And it is up to us to please them and get the story right. We are looking forward in a big way.“
D’Onofrio’s comments are hardly surprising as now, more than ever, studios are making decisions based on viewership and online responses to projects. That said, a third season of the series feels like a very sure thing given the passionate fan base and the interest of its stars to move ahead.
In late March, Marvel Studios captivated the world for hours by revealing part of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday in an unannounced live stream across Twitter and YouTube. Shortly afterwards, the studio made it clear that more stars would join the impressive list of 27 talented actors and actreses, though they didn’t give any indication of when or just how many more there would be. And while we still don’t know what Marvel’s plans might be, a recent leak by a familiar insider may have let the cat(s) out of the bag.
Longtime Hollywood scooper and shortime Marvel shit lister, Jeff “The In” Sneider, recently rolled out a list of 33 stars that he was told would join the film, bringing the total number to an impressive 60. While even Sneider was a bit skeptical, if for the purposes of this exercise, we take the list at face value, it could shed some serious light on what to expect in Avengers: Doomsday.
Let’s break down what each of the 60 MCU stars might bring to the landscape of the 2026 team-up. The rumored new members of the cast are in green.
The Villain
Robert Downey Jr./Victor von Doom
In what will remain the studio’s most controversial casting decision ever until fans finally see Avengers: Doomsday, Kevin Feige and crew brought the actor behind the MCU’s greatest hero back to play on of the greatest villains ever created. Nobody will argue that Downey is one of the most versatile and talented actors working in Hollywood now but it’s still very much a concern for fans that he’s not right for the role of Doom and it’s just a nostalgia-driven marketing ploy.
As revealed by director Jake Schreier, the Thunderbolts* extended post-credit scene was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and is indeed a scene from Avengers: Doomsday. That confirmation makes the exposition-heavy scene even more important, though we don’t know at what point in Doomsday it takes place. However, it does lay out that Yelena’s New Avengers are aware of a “space crisis” and will be the first heroes on Earth-616 to meet up with whichever members of the Fantastic Four are aboard the Excelsior.
While it may have been mildly surprising to see Hiddleston’s name among those originally revealed, it’s no surprise at all that the Time Variance Authority, which first appeared in Loki, will have a role in Avengers: Doomsday. Before the studio pivoted from the original idea for the project, first known as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the TVA likely would have played a more integral role in the film. Still, given Loki’s position as the God of Stories and the nature of the TVA, these characters and their stories still easily connect to a film about the collapse of the Multiverse…and Loki may just be set for another, other death.
The Old Avengers
Don Cheadle/James Rhodes
Chris Hemsworth/Thor
Samuel L. Jackson/Fury, Nicholas J.
Brie Larson/Carol Danvers
Chris Pratt/The Legendary Star-Lord
Jeremy Renner/Clint Barton
Paul Rudd/Scott Lang
Mark Ruffalo/Bruce Banner
Tessa Thompson/Valkyrie
Benedict Wong/Wong
Even as new teams form in their absence, there’s no possibility that the surviving members of the Avengers who defeated Thanos would stay on the sidelines while their reality falls apart. Certainly, some of these heroes my join up with either Sam or Yelena’s team, but it’s also starting to look like there will be plenty to do for all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. At this point, it seems like Avengers: Doomsday will likely mark the end of the road for a few Marvel lifers.
Concept art revealed that this group of young heroes was set to assemble in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty; however, when the original idea was scrapped in favor of whatever it is that Avengers: Doomsday is all about, it wasn’t clear how many, if any, of these characters would still show up. Interestingly, this lineup matches nicely with insider Daniel Richtman’s January 2025 report that indicated the studio had locked in its roster of Champions…with one notable exception: Joe Locke was not among those listed by “The In” Sneider.
The Wakandans + 1
Winston Duke/M’Baku
Danai Gurira/Okoye
Tenoch Huerta Mejia/Namor
Letitia Wright/Shuri
With Wakanda likely still recovering from the Talokanil-Wakandan War, it’ll will be very interesting to see what Anthony and Joe Russo have in mind for the country. With M’Baku currently sitting the throne as the King of Wakanda, Okoye working as a Midnight Angel, Shuri out of the country and Namor pledged to aid them, the Wakandans have some things to sort out before they are ready to help save the world once more.
Seemingly made possible by the divergent timeline created in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the original Fox X-Men trilogy stars will reunite in Avengers: Doomsday. It seems likely, though far from certain, that their universe is the one in which Teyonah Parris‘ Monica Rambeau became stranded in during the final act of The Marvels which means she should be playing a central role in the film. Carol Danvers will certainly be trying to bring her home and the X-Men will likely learn the consequences of prolonged Multiversal travel. Will the result be Avengers vs. X-Men? Or will Doom best everyone to it and expedite the end of the Fox universe?
Incursion Experts
Benedict Cumberbatch/Doctor Strange
Charlize Theron/Clea
If both these characters are indeed in the film, it stands to reason that they’ll be the walking, talking expository devices of the film, explaining Incursions to the audience and Avengers alike. When last seen, the pair we’re headed out to “fix” one of the Incursions caused by Strange’s Multiversal adventure. Can Incursions be fixed? Will the Dark Dimension, where Clea is from, be a key setting in the film, allowing teams and individuals to travel inter-dimensionally?
The New Guardians of the Galaxy
Maria Bakalova/Cosmo
Bradley Cooper/Rocket
Vin Diesel/Groot
Karen Gillan/Nebula
Will Poulter/Adam Warlock
Kai Zen/Phyla
A relatively surprising choice to be part of Avengers: Doomsday, it seems as though the New Guardians May find themselves working with Captain Marvel and crew to solve their part of the “space crisis.” But where is Sean Gunn‘s Kraglin and why do the Russos hate him?
The Wild Cards
Hayley Atwell
Chris Evans
Channing Tatum/Gambit
Evans has been rumored and reported to be part of Avengers: Doomsday before the project has a title. Will he be Nomad? Will he be the original Steve Rogers, whose decision to travel to and remain in the past with Peggy Carter will lead to an Incursion? Will he be Hydra Cap? Will he be all of the above?
Like Evans, Atwell was reported to have joined the cast in December 2024 but was absent from the first round of reveals by Marvel. And also like Evans, Atwell could be playing regular old Peggy, Captain Carter or another Variant we haven’t met yet.
Tatum‘s card-throwing Gambit presents an entirely different type of X-factor than either Atwell or Evans. As seen in Deadpool & Wolverine, Tatum’s Le Diable Blanc doesn’t know what universe he used to call home, positing at one point that perhaps he was even born in the Void at the End of Time. With that in mind, perhaps he has a much larger and surprising role to play in Avengers: Doomsday than you might expect…or perhaps he’s just there because he made a name for himself as Gambit after waiting so long to bring the character to life.
With such a large cast and so many others left out entirely, it seems highly unlikely that all 60 of these folks will make it to Avengers: Secret Wars and the end of the Multiverse Saga. With Marvel’s own X-Men set to take center stage for the next decade, fans should start preparing to say goodbye to some old favorites.
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.
-Kevin Feige
Marvel blitzed social media with new posters and videos of members of the cast revealing the movie’s “new title”, including Sebastian Stan walking around Los Angeles covering up Thunderbolts* posters with *The New Avengers ones. The savvy move has already stirred up increased conversation around the film, potentially propelling it to a very solid second weekend at the box office, especially considering the overwhelmingly positive reviews it’s received. Now, the studio has begun to address some of the questions that have popped up due to the move.
Changing the title of a film after release isn’t groundbreaking but changing it four days after release might have been…had they officially changed it. Following the online uproar, Gizmodo and io9 reporter Germain Lussier shared word from his Marvel source that the rebrand is simply a “marketing gimmick” and that thenfilm’s official title remains Thunderbolts*.
*steps up to soapbox*
"The New Avengers isn't the official title! It's just a fun marketing gimmick, which is clearly working. Call the movie whatever you want but officially, it's still and will remain Thunderbolts!"
In an interview with the New York Times, director Jake Schreier explained the logic behind the gimmick. “It felt like, if Val is also trying to pull a switcheroo and sell the New Avengers to the world, we could do that, too,” he said. “Especially given that the asterisk has been on the movie for a year, hopefully it doesn’t feel sweaty — it feels like this was a plan and we built up to it,” he explained, referring to the addition of the symbol which was first revealed in a behind the scenes look at the film shared by star Florence Pugh.
Florence Pugh is here to show you a few things she can't show you.
Schreier added that while Marvel was open to the addition of the asterisk, they always assumed its meaning would leak ahead of the film’s release. “It’s very fun [Marvel was]open to embracing that,’ said Schreie. “It’s so interesting in this world, and Kevin [Feige] talks about it sometimes, where sometimes they wanted things to leak and they don’t. I think we all assumed that it would be a bigger part of the conversation already, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.” Interestingly, the information did indeed “leak” well ahead of the film’s premier but apparently not loudly enough to catch the attention of the fine security folks at Marvel Studios. Now all that remains to be seen is what impact it has on the film’s box office performance both this week and over the long haul.
Marvel Studios Thunderbolts* and/or *The New Avengers is now in theaters.
Lewis Pullman‘s performance as Bob/Sentry/The Void has been roundly praised following the opening weekend of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*The New Avengers. And while Bob will indeed be back for more in Avengers: Doomsday, it turns out he was originally not part of the film, leaving the Thunderbolts to teamnup against an entirely different antagonist.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Thunderbolts* writer Eric Pearson revealed that his first draft of the script featured Wyatt Russell‘s John Walker as the big bad.
“The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end,” said Pearson. “The idea was that part of Val’s manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going,” added the writer. Given Walker’s fragile mental state, it’s easy to imagine Val working U.S. Agent into a frenzy to do her dirty work.
In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing. There was going to be a bit of a ‘Sun’s getting real low’ moment because from the beginning of this, it was like, “I want to end our third act fight with a hug.“
-Eric Pearson
Fortunately, Marvel and Pearson made a decision to head in another direction, choosing Bob as the subject of Val’s manipulative machinations, leaving the team up against a foe they could never take on physically. “That version was kind of fun, but ultimately didn’t work and didn’t feel right tone-wise,” he explained. “I had already kind of layered in the whole Breakfast Club thing, so I was like, ‘I want someone that they can’t beat in a punching fight and that they have to connect to in an emotional way.’“
While Val is the film’s true baddie, she would pose no threat to any of the team of Thunderbolts without someone else there to do the heavy lifting. While Walker might have made for an interesting punching bag, he’d have truly stood no chance against a pair of Super-Soldiers teaming up with Ghost and Yelena. Moving away from Walker to The Void is just one example of the very positive changes made to the script during the pre-production process that allowed it to become one of the studio’s best films in the past several years.
Over 17 years and 37 feature films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown and evolved from an experiment (Iron Man) to the most successful film franchise in history. Full of origin stories, team-ups, and big events, just like the source material on which it’s based, the MCU has weaved compelling narratives throughout narratives and across phases; however, as it has expanded, so too has the need to tell longer stories. With that in mind, we present a complete collection and analysis of the runtimes of the MCU, both by Phase and from shortest to longest.
By necessity, two-thirds of Phase One’s films told the origins of the core group of Avengers who would team up in 2012’s The Avengers. And, of course, Phase One set up that big team-up with the first of what would become an MCU staple: a stinger featuring Nick Fury.
Iron Man Release Date: May 2, 2008 Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes Number of stingers: 1
The Incredible Hulk Release Date: June 13, 20008 Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes Number of stingers: 0 (the Stark scene was a pre-credits scene)
Iron Man 2 Release Date: May 7, 2010 Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Thor Release Date: May 6, 2011 Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Captain America: The First Avenger Release Date: July 29, 2011 Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes Number of stingers: 1
The Avengers Release Date: May 4, 2012 Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Total PhaseOne Runtime: 744 minutes (12 hours 24 minutes) Average Phase One Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
The success of Phase One dictated that Phase Two would be sequel heavy, but Marvel Studios also needed to take some chances and introduce some new characters. They did so in Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man, but it was the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that paved the road for what would become the central plot of the future of the MCU. Phase Two films were only slightly longer, on average, than Phase One.
Iron Man 3 Release Date: May 3, 2013 Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Thor: The Dark World Release Date: November 8, 2013 Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Release Date: April 4, 2014 Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Release Date: August 1, 2014 Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Avengers: Age of Ultron Release Date: May 1, 2015 Runtime: 2 hours 21 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Ant-Man Release Date: July 17, 2015 Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Total Phase Two Runtime: 12 hours 38 minutes (758 minutes) Average Phase Two Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes
Phase Three saw the greatest expansion of main characters in the MCU and featured two of the most successful films in the history of Hollywood. Comprised on 11 films, Phase Three nearly equaled the combined output of Phases One and Two and cemented the MCU’s legacy. The average runtime became significantly longer with only two of the 11 films coming in under two hours and Avengers: Endgame becoming the first to cross the 3-hour mark.
Captain America: Civil War Release Date: May 6, 2016 Runtime: 2 hours 27 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Doctor Strange Release Date: November 4, 2016 Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release Date: May 5, 2017 Runtime: 2 hours 17 minutes Number of stingers: 5
Spider-Man: Homecoming Release Date: July 7, 2017 Runtime: 2 hours 13 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Thor: Ragnarok Release Date: November 3, 2017 Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Black Panther Release Date: February 16, 2018 Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Avengers: Infinity War Release Date: April 27, 2018 Runtime: 2 hours 29 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Ant-Man and The Wasp Release Date: July 6, 2018 Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Captain Marvel Release Date: March 8, 2019 Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Avengers: Endgame Release Date: April 26, 2019 Runtime: 3 hours 1 minute Number of stingers: 0
Spider-Man: Far From Home Release Date: July 2, 2019 Runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Total Phase Three Runtime: 24 hours 57 minutes (1,497 minutes) Average Phase Three Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes
23 Films Total Infinity Saga Runtime: 49 hours and 59 minutes (2,999 minutes) Average Infinity Saga Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes
Like Phase One, Phase Four has to date been heavily comprised of origin stories as the MCU sets a new course. Unlike previous Phases, Phase Four has also had the benefit of Disney Plus serving as a storytelling companion. Phase Four ended up with the longest average runtime of any phase of the MCU to date.
Black Widow Release Date: July 9, 2021 Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings Release Date: September 3, 2021 Runtime: 2 hours 12 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Eternals Release Date: November 5, 2021 Runtime: 2 hours 36 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Spider-Man: No Way Home Release Date: December 17, 2021 Runtime: 2 hours 28 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Release Date: May 5, 2022 Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Thor: Love and Thunder Release Date: July 8, 2022 Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Release Date: November 11, 2022 Runtime: 2 hours 41 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Total Phase Four Runtime: 16 hours 16 minutes (976 minutes) Average Phase Four Runtime: 2 hours 19 minutes
Phase 5 is compromised of 6 films with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania having kicked it off in February 2023 and Thunderbolts* wrapping it up in May 2025.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania Release Date: February 17, 2023 Runtime 2 hours 5 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Release Date: May 5, 2023 Runtime: 2 hours 29 minutes Number of stingers: 2
The Marvels Release Date: November 10, 2023 Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Deadpool & Wolverine Release Date: July 26, 2024 Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Captain America: Brave New World Release Date: February 14, 2025 Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes Number of stingers: 1
Thunderbolts* Release Date: May 2, 2025 Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes Number of stingers: 2
Total Phase Five Runtime: 12 hours 31 minutes (751 minutes) Average Phase Five Runtime: 2 hours and 5 minutes
Phase Six
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date: July 25, 2025
Runtimes: 1 hour 55 minutes
Number of stingers: 2
14 Films Total Multiverse Saga Runtime: 28 hours 47 minutes (1730 minutes) Average Multiverse Saga Runtime: 2 hours 3 minutes
A look at all 36 films from the shortest runtime to the longest runtime, including the total runtime of the franchise and the sweet spot runtime of 2 hours 11 minutes.
The Marvels 1 hour 45 minutes The Incredible Hulk: 1 hour 52 minutes Thor: The Dark World: 1 hour 52 minutes Thor: 1 hour 55 minutes Doctor Strange: 1 hour 55 minutes Ant-Man: 1 hour 57 minutes Ant-Man and The Wasp: 1 hour 58 minutes Captain America: Brave New World: 1 hour 58 minutes Thor: Love and Thunder: 1 hour 59 minutes Guardians of the Galaxy: 2 hours 2 minutes Iron Man 2: 2 hours 4 minutes Captain America: The First Avenger: 2 hours 4 minutes Captain Marvel: 2 hours 4 minutes Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania: 2 hours 5 minutes Iron Man: 2 hours 6 minutes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: 2 hours 6 minutes Thunderbolts*: 2 hours 6 minutes Deadpool & Wolverine: 2 hours 8 minutes Spider-Man: Far From Home: 2 hours 9 minutes Iron Man 3: 2 hours 10 minutes Thor: Ragnarok: 2 hours 10 minutes Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings: 2 hours 12 minutes Spider-Man: Homecoming: 2 hours 13 minutes Black Panther: 2 hours 14 minutes Black Widow: 2 hours 14 minutes Captain America: The Winter Soldier: 2 hours 16 minutes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: 2 hours 17 minutes Avengers: Age of Ultron: 2 hours 21 minutes The Avengers: 2 hours 23 minutes Captain America: Civil War: 2 hours 27 minutes Spider-Man: No Way Home: 2 hours 28 minutes Avengers: Infinity War: 2 hours 29 minutes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: 2 hours 29 minutes Eternals: 2 hours 36 minutes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: 2 hours 41 minutes Avengers:Endgame: 3 hours 1 minute
Total Runtime: 78 hours 46 minutes (4,726 minutes) Average Runtime: 2 hours 11 minutes
Long before Thunderbolts* hit theaters, fans had plenty of theories about the asterisk added to the film’s title in early 2024. At the time, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, made it clear that the studio would not address the change until after the movie hit theaters. That time is now and the studio is addressing it in an unprecedented way.
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.
-Kevin Feige
Following the film’s very solid opening weekend in which it pulled in $162.1 M globally ($76 M domestic, $86.1 M overseas) and managed to secure an A- Cinemascore, the studio has begun a bold marketing move that officially reveals the meaning behind the asterisk.
In the film’s third act, the film’s titular team of lonely losers are introduced to the press as The New Avengers after saving New York City from The Void. It’s a move made solely to allow Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to save face but as the film’s post-credit tag reveals, the team is still active as Avengers 14 months later.
Retitling a film after release, even unofficially, isn’t something Marvel Studios has dabbled with in the past and it remains to be seen just how serious the studio is about the change. It appears, however, they’ve invested at least some capital in a second wave of marketing the film as The New Avengers begging the question if the film will indeed be rebranded for digital and home release.
Rewrites, reshoots and additional photography have become routine partsof the Marvel Studios production machine. It’s safe to say that no two projects undergo the same amount of changes and that they’re not always all-encompassing nor always favorable.
Both Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again were significantly reworked following the 2023 Hollywood work stoppages to varying degrees of success. Brave New World reshot its first act battle, gave The Leader a concerning makeover and shot a very awkward post-credit scene, none of which were well-received by fans. On the other hand, the creative retooling of Daredevil: Born Again, intended to connect it to the original Netflix series, seemed to please the bloodthirsty legion of edge lords who believe the character should suffer in darkness and misery. However, perhaps no project underwent a more complete overhaul than Thunderbolts*.
Originally drafted by Eric Pearson as a sequel to Black Widow, the project’s script was handed off to both Joanna Calo and Lee Sung Jin. Typically, it’s never made clear by the studio just how much a script changes from beginning to end; however, director Jake Schreier veered from the norm in an interview with EW, explaining that very little of the film’s original conceit survived.
"More powerful than all The Avengers rolled in one."
According to Schreier, the only big idea from the original script that made it to the big screen was the idea of the mismatched team of damaged people being revealed as the MCU’s New Avengers at the end. The idea was “in the script from the very first draft,” Schreier told EW, adding “Even though a lot of things, almost everything, changed around it.“
“There was the core idea of these operatives sent to kill each other, which I thought was such a neat twist on people expecting Marvel’s Suicide Squad,” Schreier explained. “And then that was the ending, and it went to a very different place, but that was the one thing that was like, no matter what we do, it’s going to end in that place.” Whatever the original version may have been, there will be very few fans disappointed with the direction the studio ultimately chose for the film.
As is Marvel Studios’ tradition, Thunderbolts*included some additional scenes during the credits. Though the first scene featuring David Harbour‘s Red Guardian was played for laughs, the second scene jumped 14 months into the MCU’s future, providing a look at the New Avengers regrouping at The Watchtower. Unlike several of the studio’s post-credit scenes, this one felt important, providing information about Captain America and his team of Avengers while also teasing the arrival of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616. Yelena’s New Avengers were decked out in new uniforms, including Bucky sporting a new star logo very reminiscent of the one his character recently sported in the pages of Marvel Comics as The Revolution, and were just learning about a “space crisis,” which is almost certainly an Incursion.
TL:DR, the 2-minute and 54-second scene is doing a lot of table setting for Avengers: Doomsday and it turns out that’s because it was filmed by the directors of the upcoming Marvel project.
In an interview with Comic Book, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier revealed that the post-credit scene was filmed on the set of Avengers: Doomsday while strongly hinting that Joe and Anthony Russo were behind the camera for it.
So a couple things about that. I didn’t film that scene. I was there when it was filmed and I can say that it comes from the set of a production that might be starting production right around now. So that might be fun for people to stay and watch.
-Jake Schreier
The knowledge that the Russos filmed the scene adds a little extra weight to the information contained within. Too frequently, the studio’s stingers are poorly thought out and following up on them becomes the problem of “the next guy.” Since the Russos directed this and are “the next guys,” this scene can more or less be thought of as part of Avengers: Doomsday, which we can safely assume begins a year and two months after the events of Thunderbolts*, set in 2027. With that, we now know that the next Avengers film will be set in 2028, keeping the MCU timeline ahead of the real world by a couple of years.
Thunderbolts* is now in theaters and Avengers: Doomsday is now in production ahead of its May 1, 2026 release.
Marvel Studios took a chance with Thunderbolts* but all signs point toward the film, directed by Jake Schreier, opening to a solid weekend at the box office following very positive reviews by critics. With the surviving members of the eclectic group of anti-heroes already confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, it looks like the Thunderbolts are here to stay…at least in the short term. But in what capacity?
As explained here, following the team’s battle against The Void–the omnipotent dark shadow of Lewis Pullman‘s Sentry–Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who is facing impeachment charges, saves face by introducing the group as The New Avengers…and Bob. With that big reveal, the 2-hour and 6-minute run time of Thunderbolts* draws to a close but, as audiences have come to expect from Marvel Studios’ projects, there’s more in store for those who stick around for the credits.
The film’s Mid-Credits scene features David Harbour‘s bombastic Alexi Shostakov and makes good on the Wheaties box premise of one of the project’s promotional posters. While out grocery shopping, a cleaned-up Alexi proudly shows off a box of The Breakfast of Champions, which features the New Avengers on the front. Though it’s mostly there to add another laugh when Alexi fails to convince a woman to purchase a box, the scene implies that the cast of castoffs have indeed become the public-facing heroes Yelena aspired to be, completing their redemption arcs.
Post-Credit
Set 14 months after the conclusion of the film, the second scene–which runs a Marvel record 2 minutes and 54 seconds–finds the team, complete with fancy new uniforms–regrouping at their new HQ, The Watchtower. Though it’s not clearly stated, the New Avengers seem to have an assistive AI helping them out as that may well be an homage to C.L.O.C. or Centrally Located Organic Computer, who helped run The Watchtower in the pages of Marvel Comics. While the team’s discussion about Sam Wilson filing a lawsuit to prevent them from calling themselves The Avengers leads Shostakov to reveal his “New Avengerz” outfit, Yelena’s conversation discloses that they are aware of a “space crisis.” As they process that, the computer warns them of an extra-dimensional ship entering Earth’s atmosphere. That ship? The Excelsior, belonging to The Fantastic Four!
While it’s not entirely clear what circumstances bring The First Family from their Earth to Earth-616, trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps have shown Reed Richards to be working on the math behind inter-dimensioal travel and with both The New Avengers and Fantastic Four slated to play big roles in Avengers: Doomsday, the scene teases the first meeting between the two.
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