Will there be a Thunderbolts* 2? That’s one of the biggest lingering questions after the movie, and one of the most natural to have. After all, of the 11 non-sequel movies released in the MCU Phases 1-3, only one didn’t receive a sequel: The Incredible Hulk (not counting plot threads being picked up 17 years later in Captain America: Brave New World). However, that has changed considerably in Phases 4 through 6. Of the 14 movies released so far, only five aren’t sequels, and that includes Black Widow.
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Of the others, none have a sequel with a confirmed release date. The chances of Eternals 2 are slim to none; Shang-Chi 2 might happen, but it is clearly not a priority. The Fantastic Four 2 is probably going to happen, though it’ll surely be at least 2028 before we see it. So where does that leave Thunderbolts*? After an underwhelming box office run, where it grossed $382 million – placing it among the five lowest-grossing MCU movies – it seems unlikely that a sequel focused only on these characters will happen, as great as they are to watch. Thankfully, however, it is getting a sequel, just not in the most traditional sense.
Avengers: Doomsday Is Thunderbolts* 2
Thunderbolts*‘ ending promised the New Avengers will return, and that’s exactly what will happen in Avengers: Doomsday. It’s already confirmed that all the members of the team will be back (including Bob), which means the following line-up will be seen in the movie:
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian
- Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds / Sentry
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost
Doomsday will bring together several superhero teams, including the MCU’s Fantastic Four, the original X-Men, and Sam Wilson’s Avengers. But, well, this is the new Avengers movie, and the Thunderbolts are the New Avengers. Those characters should be key to the movie, and it’ll be their biggest outing together under that moniker. It’ll continue their development as a group from Thunderbolts*, further fleshing out their dynamics and the core relationships – such as Yelena and Bob – and turning them into true heroes.
As well as them fighting against Doctor Doom and any other villains in the movie, there’ll also be inter-hero conflicts to resolve too, building on the events of Thunderbolts*‘ post-credits scene. That set up some major drama between the two different Avengers teams, with Sam suing over copyright infringement. That’s probably not just going to be swept under the rug, and seeing how these characters deal with that – and then have to work together – will be another crucial aspect to the film.
Thunderbolts* Characters May Die In Avengers: Doomsday
Thunderbolts* quickly killed off Taskmaster, but it was otherwise surprisingly light on deaths, with all the other main characters making it out alive, if not unscathed. That makes sense when considering the “sequel” is Avengers: Doomsday, which is clearly bringing in as many characters as possible and will give them one of their biggest tests yet. And whether all of the New Avengers members will make it out of that – and its follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars – is another matter.
These two Avengers movies will be something of a reset for the MCU, so there will likely be a need to clear the decks in some way to allow for more new characters to step up. Similarly, these movies also need to have clear, tangible stakes, and deaths – permanent ones – are an obvious way to do that. It’s extremely hard to imagine Yelena dying, since Pugh is seemingly being established as one of the new faces of the MCU. Likewise, there’s surely too much potential with Pullman’s Sentry.
What about the others? As great as they are, none of them dying would be a surprise, as tragic as it might be. They’re characters with clear redemption arcs, which makes it more possible they will be killed off. Red Guardian dying to save Yelena? John Walker dying after becoming the hero he was meant to be? Bucky dying after all he’s been through in the MCU as one of its longest-serving characters, perhaps even after teaming up with or facing off against Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers one last time? That’s not to say any of those should happen, but it’s easy to see why they might.
Will There Ever Be An Actual Thunderbolts* 2?
Avengers: Doomsday and, perhaps, Secret Wars, can serve as sequels to Thunderbolts*, but will there be a real one that’s only about that team? That is harder to imagine. For starters, it wouldn’t make sense to have another movie with “Thunderbolts” in the title, as they’ve replaced the name and the meaning of it – connected to Yelena’s sports team – isn’t replicable with anyone else, even if they wanted to bring back, say, Baron Zemo and have his version of the team from the comics.
Thunderbolts* also wasn’t a huge box office success, which makes it less likely there’ll be a more focused follow-up. And, again, if even a couple of those characters die in Doomsday or Secret Wars, there’s less of a team to bring back (and presumably there’ll be an effort to condense things back into one Avengers team). At the same time, if those movies hit like Marvel hopes they will, then there could be more potential for some of the characters. Yelena and Bob/Sentry seem the most obvious candidates to lead future movies, whether it’s a team-up event or something solo. That could further continue on elements of Thunderbolts*, just without it being an official sequel.
Thunderbolts* is now streaming on Disney+. Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18th, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars following on December 17th, 2027.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
