Welp, we finally know what the ‘Thunderbolts*’ asterisk stands for… and it wasn’t worth the wait

Marvel has been playing a game with fans in the run-up to the release of Thunderbolts*, and that game has insisted that the upcoming anti-hero ensemble movie’s full title includes a mysterious asterisk at the end of it.

The punctuation mark’s presence heavily indicated that another aspect of the plot had yet to be revealed, with a common theory being that the gang might be renamed the Dark Avengers by the film’s end. Well, we may now know the truth, and it’s nowhere near that interesting.

Thunderbolts* got a new-look trailer courtesy of Super Bowl LIX, which gave us our most substantial peak yet at what’s in store. What many fans might have missed, however, is the reveal hidden in an accompanying poster, which goes ahead and quietly confirms (at least we think it does) what that pesky asterisk actually means. Everyone, prepare to bring your sky-high expectations all the way back down to planet Earth-616.

Thunderbolts* poster seemingly confirms what that asterisk means (*and it’s thunderingly underwhelming)

In the wake of the Super Bowl trailer, Marvel released a nifty-looking international poster, showcasing the six members of the team (plus Bob). Soon, an English language version followed, which plainly confirmed for all to see what the asterisk has meant all along ⏤ and it ain’t the Dark Avengers (although the Avengers do have something to do with it). Wait, I’m making it sound more exciting than it is.

Jumping off the extremely Suicide Squad-style branding of the new trailer, the Thunderbolts poster doubles down on the appeal of the gang being a dysfunctional team of vigilantes instead of the well-oiled Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Not super. Not heroes. Not giving up,” reads the film’s tagline. Meanwhile, right at the bottom of the poster, for the very first time, an additional line is featured that appears to reveal the intention behind the asterisk.

Are you ready? (I promise you’re not.) According to this poster, the secret subtitle of the movie is… “*The Avengers are not available.” Yep. That’s it.

So there you have it. It’s curious that this “big” reveal wasn’t actually featured in the trailer, as its opening scene set it up so perfectly. “The Avengers are not coming,” announces Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Tulsi Gabbard Contessa Val, no doubt before arguing why she needs to pull a Viola Davis and recruit some former villains and fugitives to save the day instead. Given this, it would’ve made a lot of sense to unveil the meaning of the asterisk in the trailer itself.

That is, unless Marvel is about to repeat its Agatha All Along trick and subsequent Thunderbolts* marketing material will offer alternate asterisked subtitles before the real thing is revealed closer to its release on May 6. If this does end up being the real deal then, well, it’s a decent joke that fits the film’s brand, but it’s hardly worth all the cloak and dagger surrounding it for the past year. Now, if the footnote actually turns out to be “*Yes, they really are the Dark Avengers” or “*Ssh, Robert Downey Jr.’s in this one, too,” then we’re talking.