If you were left under a huge impression after the final credits of Thunderbolts*, then know that you are not alone. In 2025, Marvel released not just another film about saving the world, but an openly postmodern joke in which the asterisk in the title became the most apt irony. Because in fact, it is a brilliant joke.
Why is there an asterisk in the title
Formally, the film is called Thunderbolts*, with a note in the spirit of a legal disclaimer. And this is not without reason: in the finale, the film directly pokes fun at the Avengers themselves.
In one of the last episodes, the heroes save the world, and Val (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine) calls her miraculously surviving suicide squad New Avengers - and everything, as they say, went to hell.
Ironic joke
In the post-credits scene, Sam Wilson, now Captain America, appears and, looking at the monitor where the team of self-proclaimed heroes snorts: "We'll sue." Before he can finish speaking, the Fantastic Four's ship bursts into the sky, breaking the space and logic of the MCU.
And here the star begins to play its role. This is no longer just Thunderbolts, this is New Avengers - the creators even show an alternative poster with this name.
The whole film is built on the feeling that the team of outcasts, exiles and shady characters will not survive. And in the end, they become a new team, capable of making viewers fall in love with them.
