Warning! Spoilers ahead for Thunderbolts*.
Thunderbolts* just shook up the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. With its surprise ending, the latest Marvel movie introduced the New Avengers, comprised of former Red Room assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), US Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell), ex-Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and the de-powered Bob (Lewis Pullman). Thrown together haphazardly by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in a media ploy to save herself from arrest, the New Avengers made their glorious, if unexpected, debut after saving Manhattan from Bob’s dark alter ego, The Void.
But just because they began with a splashy world-saving event doesn’t mean they’re going to be accepted right away. In fact, the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* shows that they’ve got quite a few obstacles to overcome if they want to claim their place as the New Avengers — and one of them is an Avenger himself.
Thunderbolts* Credits Scenes Explained
After a montage of newspaper clips questioning the validity of the New Avengers and their mysterious hanger-on, Bob, Thunderbolts* cuts to a mid-credits scene featuring David Harbour’s Alexei, aka Red Guardian. Hanging in the cereal aisle of a grocery store, he sidles up to a random woman shopper, to point out the Wheaties cereal box with a picture of the New Avengers emblazoned on the front of it. The woman is obviously not amused by this whole interaction, but Red Guardian, who had been audibly excited about the prospect of being on a cereal box once he realized Yelena had formed a team of misfit ex-mercenaries, does not clock this. He hands the woman the cereal box, which she quickly tosses in the trash. But nothing can get him down, not even the troubling updates the New Avengers receive in the post-credits scene.
In the post-credits scene, the New Avengers are gathered in the New Avengers Tower, which Valentina has spruced up with their new team name and logo — a team name that is now the subject of a lawsuit from Captain America Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Sam Wilson is suing the New Avengers for their name, having agreed to rebuild the Avengers during the events of Brave New World. Not even Bucky’s friendship with Sam can get him to drop the lawsuit, with Bucky glumly alluding to his last conversation with Sam having gone “badly.” However, Alexei does have a solution to this suit: they change their name to the New Avengerz — a name that he’s even mocked up some sweatshirts for (which none of the team take). The team starts to wonder if, even with the backing of Valentina and the CIA, the New Avengers is long for this world, especially with their greatest asset, Bob, refusing to use his powers for fear that The Void will re-emerge.
But their musings are interrupted by a sudden blip appearing from outer space. Yelena, with Bucky’s help, manages to get their tech to give them a reading: it’s an extradimensional ship, and it’s heading straight for Earth. And on the side of the ship, we see a familiar logo: The Fantastic Four.
The Long-Awaited Avengers-Fantastic Four Crossover
This is Marvel’s biggest reveal yet for the outcome of the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The next Marvel film, which introduces Marvel’s First Family, is set in an alternate-history version of the 1960s where the Fantastic Four have been operating as superheroes for quite some time. But with the Fantastic Four about to face off against the world-destroying Galactus, things don’t seem promising for their Earth. Could their appearance in the primary Marvel timeline (aka Earth-616) mean that not only does their world get destroyed, but their entire timeline? Maybe.
At least, the New Avengers are on the case — and they could use the Fantastic Four’s help in defeating Doctor Doom. But the question remains whether the New Avengers will be the chief superhero team working with the Fantastic Four, or whether Sam Wilson will gather up his own team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to give the former Thunderbolts a run for their money.
