The Multiversal Saga had dozens of movies and TV shows, some better than others. While every individual story is firmly set within the canon constraints of the MCU, many of the recent Marvel Studios projects felt disjointed, unable to connect to other story threads. Thunderbolts* manages to brilliantly balance its goals by telling a self-contained story that makes sense in itself while setting the stage for future crossovers and changing the MCU’s status quo for good. As a result, Thunderbolts* is a meaningful entry to the MCU canon whose importance extends beyond its titular characters, planting seeds for the future and directly addressing movies already on the release calendar.
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WARNING: Spoilers below for Thunderbolts*
The central conflict of Thunderbolts* revolves around Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her clandestine efforts to create a superhero via Project Sentry. This involved illegal human experiments conducted by the shady company OXE, which Valentina used to run before she became the CIA Director. When Congress begins investigating her actions, Valentina attempts to burn all evidence on Project Sentry by dispatching her black ops agents to kill each other. First united by Valentina’s manipulations, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) join forces to escape alive, accidentally encountering Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), the unstable sole survivor of Project Sentry.
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Bob possesses immense power thanks to Valentina’s formula, but his fractured psyche manifests two personas: the heroic Sentry and the nihilistic, destructive Void. When Valentina tries to stage a public confrontation to debut Sentry, the Void is unleashed upon New York City, slowly spreading his influence throughout the city. The reluctant team, initially dubbed “Thunderbolts” as a joke by Yelena, band together with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) to save Bob from himself, subdue the Void, and prevent an Avengers-level catastrophe. In doing so, they become unexpected MCU heroes.
The MCU Has Two Avengers Teams
One of the biggest shakeups from Thunderbolts* is the confirmation that the MCU now officially has competing Avengers teams. Seeing the public cheer for Yelena’s crew after they helped save civilians from the Void, Valentina pulls a masterful political maneuver. She holds a press conference, spins the narrative, and introduces the former “Thunderbolts” as the New Avengers, a team she claims to have assembled. The rebranding saves Valentina’s career from the congressional investigation and gives the team members a clean slate and a chance at genuine heroism.
This development directly conflicts with the plans of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the current Captain America. Thunderbolts*’s post-credits scene, set 14 months after the main events, reveals that Sam is actively building his own Avengers team and is even threatening to sue Valentina’s group for copyright infringement. Furthermore, while Valentina’s New Avengers are government-sanctioned and operate out of the former Avengers Tower, now rebranded as the Watchtower, they face public mistrust due to their criminal pasts. This sets up a significant conflict for Avengers: Doomsday, with two distinct Avengers factions potentially needing to find common ground against a larger threat, perhaps facilitated by Bucky’s unique position having ties to both sides.
There’s Something Shady Going on in Outer Space
The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene also hints at cosmic trouble brewing. In the scene, Yelena expresses frustration that crucial information regarding a crisis happening in outer space is being withheld from the New Avengers. Given their controversial status and the likely reluctance of agencies such as S.A.B.E.R. to fully trust them, this isn’t entirely surprising. However, the throwaway line points towards larger events unfolding off-world, likely connected to the multiversal threats and Incursions expected to be central to Avengers: Doomsday. The deliberate withholding of information suggests the situation is serious and potentially being handled by other entities, setting the stage for the New Avengers (and Sam’s Avengers) to inevitably get involved as threats escalate.
The Fantastic Four Left Their World and Came to the Sacred Timeline
Perhaps the most direct tease for a future MCU project comes at the very end of the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene. As the New Avengers monitor threats from the Watchtower, they receive an alert that an “extradimensional” ship is entering Earth’s orbit. Zooming in via satellite reveals the vessel bears the unmistakable logo of the Fantastic Four. This reveal confirms that Marvel’s First Family will arrive in the Sacred Timeline sometime after their upcoming film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The implication is that the events of First Steps, which takes place in an alternate retro-futuristic reality, likely end with the team needing to flee their home dimension. Whether this is due to a defeat at the hands of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), the intervention of Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), or a decision to warn other realities about Incursions remains to be seen. What’s clear is that their arrival positions the New Avengers as the likely first point of contact, placing Yelena’s team squarely at the forefront of the events leading into Avengers: Doomsday.
Thunderbolts* is now available in theaters. The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25th.
How do you think the New Avengers will help change the MCU in the future? Share your theories in the comments!
