As you may recall, the title of the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) - Thunderbolts - comes with an asterisk. An asterisk is often used to indicate a conditional context or a caveat, so Marvel fans began speculating about its significance. Many deduced that the team name in the film might not be permanent - a theory hinted at in the trailers. And indeed, that’s exactly what happens in the movie. ‘Thunderbolts’ Movie Review: Marvel’s Misfit Team-Up Packs Humour, Action, Emotion and Just Enough Redemption! Although Thunderbolts released in the US on May 2 (and a day earlier in India), the film has only just completed its first weekend in cinemas. Yet, the studio has already revealed the team’s new name: The New Avengers. At a recent event, the main cast unveiled the updated title when Florence Pugh dramatically peeled back the word 'Thunderbolts' on the movie poster to reveal The New Avengers. Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, and Hannah John-Kamen were also in attendance, cheering as the reveal took place. 'Thunderbolts' Becomes 'The New Avengers' Presenting Marvel Studios' #̶T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶o̶l̶t̶s̶* #TheNewAvengers. Now playing only in theaters. Get tickets: https://t.co/bFq0RNeRhc pic.twitter.com/ACemttyCx3 — Marvel Studios* (@MarvelStudios) May 5, 2025 Even prior to this, images of Thunderbolts billboards with altered titles had gone viral, hinting at the change. Actor Sebastian Stan was even spotted replacing posters with the updated ones bearing the new title. Sebastian Stan Changing the Posters Sebastian Stan hanging his Bucky poster himself. pic.twitter.com/MbQNFxrKku — Sebastian Stan Archive ⚡️🦾 (@sebstanarchive) May 5, 2025 So why the change in title - and what does it mean for the film? To explain that, we’ll need to get into some SPOILERS. Why Was the Team Named Thunderbolts? Red Guardian (David Harbour) wanted Yelena (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) to start functioning as a proper team. When it was casually mentioned that Yelena once played on a peewee football team, Red Guardian seized the moment and began referring to the group as the Thunderbolts (after her soccer team). However, only he was enthusiastic about the name - the rest of the team, including Bucky (Sebastian Stan), who joins later, were less than impressed. Thunderbolts Becomes The New Avengers Near the film’s climax, after the Thunderbolts defeat The Void and rescue Bob and several New Yorkers, they confront Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for inadvertently orchestrating the chaos. She 'ambushes' them with a press conference, where she publicly claims the Thunderbolts were her initiative all along - and rebrands them as The New Avengers. Given the team’s collective guilt over past actions or desire for validation, they accept the new name, playing along. However, title-end credits reveal that the general public is far from convinced, with news headlines expressing scepticism about the group being dubbed Avengers. ‘Thunderbolts’ Ending Explained: How Post-Credits Scene of Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan’s Marvel Movie Sets Up MCU’s Future – Fan Theory Confirmed? Why 'The New Avengers' May Not Stick In Captain America: Brave New World, President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) had urged Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to revive the Avengers initiative. By the film’s end, Sam intends to do just that, alongside Joaquin Torres - the new Falcon (Danny Ramirez). But the Thunderbolts’ sudden emergence as The New Avengers clashes with Sam’s plans. As revealed in Thunderbolts’ second post-credit scene, Sam is suing the team for copyright infringement - and what’s more, his friendship with Bucky has taken a hit because of it. (It doesn’t help that The New Avengers are now operating out of the old Avengers Tower, which Yelena may have blackmailed Valentina into handing over.) Of course, all this may become moot by the time Avengers: Doomsday rolls around. Sam Wilson, Joaquin Torres, and The New Avengers will have to unite - along with the Fantastic Four, who are teased in the film’s post-credit scene as entering the main MCU timeline - to face a new threat: Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom.