Marvel Studios came to play like it was one of the teams in the 2025 Super Bowl, and the big MVP was no doubt the new trailer for Thunderbolts* which debuted during the big game. The latest footage from Thunderbolts* showcased an epic struggle between the rag-tag team of espionage misfits (Black Widow II, Winter Soldier, Red Guardian, US Agent, Ghost, Taskmaster) and Marvel’s twisted Superman character The Sentry. However, in giving us more of the story behind the film, Thunderbolts* may have also spoiled a key story detail of Captain America: Brave New World!
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Valentina’s Avengers
The expanded trailer for Thunderbolts* reveals more of how Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) fits into the film. Valentina is seen speaking in front of some kind of congressional committee, where here entire premise is that “The Avengers are not coming” to save innocent people from the latest major calamity (more on that later…), while posing the question of “who will keep the American people safe?” Based on the story synopsis and other trailers for Thunderbolts*, it’s pretty clear that Valentina brings the team together to be her new Avengers squad – going so far as to welcome them into Avengers Tower.
It wouldn’t be surprising either, to learn that Valentina was trying to make The Sentry (Lewis Pullman) the Hulk/Thor powerhouse of her new Avengers team before the situation goes sideways because Sentry is hiding a world-threatening supervillain inside of his fractured mind. The outcome of the mission to stop Sentry will likely reveal why the title of Thunderbolts* has that asterisk in it: either the team becomes Valentina’s government-sponsored Avengers squad – or too few of them survive the mission to even be considered a team anymore.
If the Thunderbolts are being recruited to operate in place of an Avengers team that’s no longer available, it seems like that already answers a major question about Captain America: Brave New World.
[RELARED: Thunderbolts Super Bowl Trailer May Spoil Major Death]
Does Sam Wilson’s Captain America Get the Avengers Job?
The trailers and TV spots for Captain America: Brave New World haven’t been shy about name-dropping the Avengers, to get Marvel Cinematic Universe fans hyped. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) tasks Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) with rebuilding the Avengers as a government-sponsored team backed by the White House. It’s an idea that Sam has major reservations about – and that’s before Ross gets transformed into a fiery Red Hulk, and a villainous mastermind (The Leader) is revealed to be manipulating geo-political events. By the end of Brave New World, it will be understandable if Same strikes out on his own, much like Steve Rogers did in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
That doesn’t mean Sam Wilson won’t be a major player in the Avengers franchise: Mackie is already confirmed to be returning for the two-part Avengers: Doomsday, and Secret Wars event. However, at the moment it doesn’t feel like he’ll be leading an “official” Avengers squad. That mantle (however hollow it may be) feels like it will pass to the Thunderbolts – just in time for the entire multiverse to start falling apart.
Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters this week. Thunderbolts* will be released in theaters on May 2nd.
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