Posted in: Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: the new avengers, thunderbolts

Thunderbolts* Director On Revealing The New Avengers Spoiler, Posters

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier explains why they decided to spoil The New Avengers aspect of the film, plus 5 new posters.

Thunderbolts* came out this weekend, and it seems to be doing well at the box office and with fans. There were some spoilers that everyone saw coming, and then there were others. When Robert Downey Jr. shared on social media with the caption, "Big congrats to the New Avengers (and Bob)," I replied that this was very much a "Monday after release" spoiler and that we'd see a poster before the month was done. Well, I was wrong on two counts: first of all, this was spoiled on Sunday, not Monday, and they released five posters today, and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so I'll take my loss with grace. Either way, despite the fact that it is very much a surprise that the team gains the title The New Avengers in the film, it's been spoiled for all the world to see. There are varying degrees of spoilers, and some are easier to avoid than others, but getting out ahead of it for once seemed to be the plan. Director Jake Schreier spoke to the New York Times about just explaining the asterisk and talking about the spoiler that everyone has already leaked.

"It's very fun that they were open to embracing that," Schreier said. "It's so interesting in this world, and Kevin talks about it sometimes, where sometimes they wanted things to leak, and they don't. I think we all assumed that it would be a bigger part of the conversation already, so it'll be interesting to see what happens."

Well, maybe leaked. See, the thing is, the people who already knew about The New Avengers reveal in Thunderbolts* are the people who read sites like this one. They are on X/Twitter and Blusky, spend time in comment sections, and are actively online. Maybe not terminally online, but pretty close. However, there are plenty of Marvel fans who are not online, and the example I like to go back to is my mom and dad. They really enjoy Marvel movies and want to see Thunderbolts* later this month, the only way they would have learned about this reveal this soon would be from the new posters and the title change. Schreier explained how it is thematically relevant to the movie itself, but that doesn't change the fact that not every Marvel fan is on social media.

"It felt like, if Val is also trying to pull a switcheroo and sell the New Avengers to the world, we could do that, too," Schreier explained. "Especially given that the asterisk has been on the movie for a year, hopefully it doesn't feel sweaty — it feels like this was a plan and we built up to it."

Marvel has released five new posters featuring the Thunderbolts* logo ripped away and replaced with the logo for The New Avengers. They are doing the little cross-out thing on descriptions, which we're also doing, so we don't get an email requesting corrections. It's not a bad way to do this reveal, but it does speak to the fact that Marvel might be out of touch with a decent portion of their fanbase if they assume most of them have either seen the movie or were already spoiled.

Thunderbolts* The New Avengers: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

In  Thunderbolts* The New Avengers Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart or find redemption and unite as something much more before it's too late?

Returning to their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles are Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The cast also includes newcomers to the MCU—Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, and Wendell Edward Pierce.

Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* The New Avengers with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D'Esposito, Brian Chapek, and Jason Tamez serve as executive producers.

Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* The New Avengers opens in U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.

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