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.
Mid-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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