Yes, That Odd Addition to the ‘Thunderbolts*’ Title is Intentional

At CinemaCon, which took place earlier this week in Las Vegas, NV, Marvel Studios gave attendees first looks at a slew of upcoming films. Marvel head Kevin Feige also gave fans an intriguing update about the anti-hero team-up film Thunderbolts*.

Yes, you read that title right.

Thunderbolts* now officially has an asterisk as part of the title. Why? It’s not clear, but Feige promised fans that all will be explained after the film comes out.

Several news outlets who were in attendance reported on the title change. “Feige says they start shooting #fantasticfour in a few months and Thunderbolts is actually called Thunderbolts* and it will be explained after the film comes out,” reported Steven Weintraub of Collider.

“Kevin Feige confirms ‘THUNDERBOLTS*’ is the official title,” DiscussingFilm posted. “We won’t talk about the asterisk until after release.”

Thunderbolts*, which recently started filming in Atlanta, Georgia, will see a group of misfits and anti-heroes team up under the command of C.I.A. director Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (Julia Louise-Dreyfus). The film stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Lewis Pullman as the villain Sentry.

Along with Thunderbolts* and its name change, Marvel also unveiled first looks at other upcoming movies. The studio shows audience members a retro-style title card for Fantastic Four, which begins filming later this year and reportedly takes place in the ’60s.

Perhaps the most exciting parts of Marvel’s presentation, though, was exclusive footage from Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World. Deadpool & Wolverine sees Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) teaming up with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save the multiverse. In Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson takes on the mantle of Captain America after accepting the shield from Steve Rogers in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)