It's the Marvel Comics team we've always wanted in the MCU but never thought we'd see: the Thunderbolts. Based on a comics storyline that Marvel itself flagged as "the greatest trick ever pulled," Thunderbolts* brings a new superhero team in to the MCU as the big one (The Avengers) is MIA following Avengers: Endgame - and the motivations of these 'heroes' isn't always heroic.

With Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* hitting theaters May 2, we have accumulated a list of the best Thunderbolts comics to read before and after - from ones Marvel itself is promoting as a thematic tie-in to the movie, to ones we ourselves as long-time comics fans will give you with no guff. We're not listing all the great Thunderbolts comics, just the top Thunderbolts comics as you go see the movie.

Thunderbolts: Justice, Like Lightning

This is where it all began - a new group of heroes named the Thunderbolts step onto the scene, but in a stunning reveal kept secret until a MCU-style post-credits scene they're revealed to be classic villains out to fulfill their own evil ends. Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley knock one out of the park here with the inaugural Thunderbolts storyline, even catching up the secret over the course of several arcs as actual heroes join the line-up as well.

• Buy now: Thunderbolts: Justice, Like Lightning by Kurt Busiek & Mark Bagley

New Thunderbolts*

As the Thunderbolts comes into theaters, Marvel Comics is launching a thematic tie-in comic book series set in the comics universe - asterick and all - called New Thunderbolts with with Bucky Barnes ... and a cast completely different from comics. Imagine Black Widow, Wolverin, Clea, Namor, the Hulk, and Carnage in the MCU's Thunderbolts, and that's what you have with Marvel Comics' New Thunderbolts*.

"I love every iteration of Thunderbolts," writer Sam Humphries says of his and Ton Lima's interaction of the team. "I'm thrilled to continue the franchise's proud tradition of hard-hitting action, powder keg personalities, and explosive surprises into a new era. This is a gang of seven of the biggest badasses and loose cannons from different corners of the Marvel Universe. Assembling a super team is like inviting the right combination of guests to a dinner party. So I imagined a dangerous, disastrous, unhinged Marvel dinner party, and went with that."

• Pre-Order now: New Thunderbolts* by Sam Humphries & Ton Lima (launches June 11)

Dark Avengers

Dark Avengers is one of the best-selling Avengers comics of all time, but at its core its the Thunderbolts - masquerading as heroes to blend in. In it you have Norman Osborn and other villains taking over the identities of popular heroes such as Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Wolverine, and more. To borrow a phrase from Robert Downey Jr. - same masks, but different tasks.

• Buy Now: Dark Avengers: Osborn's Reign by Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Deodato Jr.

Thunderbolts: Worldstrike

Created just as the Thunderbolts* movie was filming, the comics collected in Thunderbolts: Worldstrike is the closest you can get in comics to the movie - with Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, US Agent, the Red Guardian, and even Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. They even added in Black Widow and Shang-Chi and a few others for good measure.

• Buy now: Thunderbolts: Worldstrike by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Geraldo Borges

The Sentry

While each of the 'heroes' of Thunderbolts* has been established before this movie hits, Sentry is a new one to the MCU - but has a nuanced and surprising past in comics. Without spoiling anything too major, I recommend his debut comic The Sentry by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee where you learn all about Bob, and what surprises he might hold.

• Buy now: The Sentry by Paul Jenkins & Jae Lee