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Marvel Studios re-iterates that the Thunderbolts* has that asterisk for a reason as-yet-unrevealed, but Wyatt Russell and Sebastian Stan have fun alternate titles for the movie

"I can say that it means something," director Jake Schreier unhelpfully offers about the confusing, confounding punctuation added to the title of Marvel's next movie

News by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Sun Mar 30 2025

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It’s been months since Marvel Studios added an asterisk to the official title of May’s Thunderbolts*, and despite a poster seemingly answering why it's there those involved say the real answer has yet to be revealed.

“We wanted to do something very different, and capture people’s attention,” executive producer Brian Chapek told Empire magazine in its latest issue. Not that he’ll explain what it means — and neither will director Jake Schreier, who added, “I don’t think I can say anything… I can say that it means something. There’s some general sense of what an asterisk means.”

That may, or may not, be a nod to the fan theory that the real title of the movie isn’t actually ‘Thunderbolts,’ and that fans will only get to find out what it is at the end of the movie. (A common suggestion is that the movie is actually called Dark Avengers, a title adopted by later issues of Marvel’s Thunderbolts comic.) The cast are having fun with that idea, with David Harbour quoted by Empire as saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that’s had people go, ‘What does this mean? Is this the title? Is this not the title?’”

They’re having so much fun, in fact, that some even suggest alternate subtitles for the movie, with Sebastian Stan coming up with ‘Hi, I Like You… Don’t Make Me Kill You,’ while Wyatt Russell (USAgent) offers the snappier ‘Bad Guys Gone Wild.’ At least one cast member is willing to tease the real scoop, however… emphasis on the ‘tease.’ Hey, Florence Pugh? What’s with the asterisk?

“I actually know,” the actress told Empire, before adding, “But I’m not gonna tell you. I hold all the power.”

Thunderbolts* will explain its title when it hits theaters May 2, 2025.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.