What That Thunderbolts* Asterisk Means For Some Marvel TV Characters (Warning: Movie Spoilers)
The following contains spoilers from the Marvel Studios film Thunderbolts* — post-credits scene included.
As revealed at the end of Thunderbolts*, the MCU Phase 5 team-up film now in theaters, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's John Walker aka U.S. Agent — that goofy, knock-off Captain America — is now one of the Avengers.
Sorta.
Announced in September 2022 and originally pegged for a July 2024 release (but pushed back thrice), Thunderbolts* assembles "an unconventional team of antiheroes" — Yelena Belova (played by Black Widow and Hawkeye's Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (MCU vet Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (Black Widow's David Harbour), Ava Starr/Ghost (Ant-Man 2's Hannah John-Kamen), Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Black Widow's Olga Kurylenko) and the aforementioned John Walker/U.S. Agent (Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Wyatt Russell).
And Bob (Outer Range's Lewis Pullman).
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by soon-to-be-impeached CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Julia Louis-Dreyfus), this collection of castoffs — self-dubbed "Thunderbolts," after young Yelena's pee-wee soccer team — embark on a dangerous mission with (and sometimes against) Bob aka Sentry aka The Void, that forced them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
As the film draws to a close, after the team of antiheroes saves poor, beleaguered New York from yet another catastrophe, Yelena & Co. stumble out onto an outdoor rally stage, where Valentina announces them to the press and all onlookers as "The New Avengers!" (The start of the closing credits confirms that this is what the asterisk in the Thunderbolts* "placeholder" title was always about, as the asterisk disappears and the name Thunderbolts morphs into The New Avengers.)
What this means is that John Walker — a character that made his live-action debut on one of Disney+'s first Marvel series — has graduated to Avenger status. As has Bucky (also previously seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Yelena (previously seen in Hawkeye) and the others.
Provided, that is, that this "New Avengers" team can withstand a copyright infringement complaint filed by Bucky's bestie Sam Wilson, who is currently assembling a new team of Avengers proper. Alexei is quick to offer one workaround (ending their team name with the letter Z instead of an S), but the legal squabble is quickly set aside when Yelena alerts the team to space crisis/incursion event, and footage of a spaceship (sporting the Fantastic Four logo) entering the atmosphere above New York....
The screen then confirms that "The New Avengers.. and Bob... Will Return." Which isn't brand-new news, given the early cast reveal for Avengers: Doomsday, now filming.
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