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Warning: spoilers ahead for Thunderbolts.

I had no doubt that Thunderbolts would be a roaring success.

You might think I’m lying, that I’m just jumping on the bandwagon now that it’s a proven box office hit and many fans believe it’s saved the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – but you’re wrong.

Ever since it was first announced, I knew it would be a smash. How could it not be, with Florence Pugh leading the way as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan returning as the morally grey yet endearing Bucky Barnes, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus giving a scene-stealing turn as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the villain you can’t help but love?

But despite the rave reviews, one aspect of the movie has sparked annoyance – the big reveal of its ‘real title’.

Fans were aware from the start that there was something fishy going on with the name of the film, considering it was officially called Thunderbolts*.

‘What’s with the Asterisk*?!?!’ one Reddit post asked. Theories ranged from thinking it teased the World War Hulk comic book storyline, to suspecting it was an homage to Harrison Ford’s Captain America character Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross.

But as it turns out, these theories were incorrect. After the anti-heroes dubbed themselves the Thunderbolts in tribute to Yelena’s childhood football team, the end of the film finally revealed what the pesky asterisk was all about.

As Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina stood in front of the prying eyes of the press, the silver-tongued politician declared to the world (in a whopping lie) that she had formed a new team of superheroes called The New Avengers.

It was a big moment in-universe. People around the globe in the MCU were led to believe that the Avengers were no more, but here they were presented with a new band of superheroes to protect them. 

A squad including two former assassins, two rogue super soldiers, and a man called Bob (Lewis Pullman), whose powerful, standout performance left me feeling as though I’d been punched in the gut.

Switching the ‘Thunderbolts’ to ‘The New Avengers’ throws a huge spanner in the works for a number of reasons. The first being, some Marvel fans are extremely peeved off.

Commenting underneath an Instagram video of the cast revealing the alternate title on a poster, one person called Marrie wrote: ‘As a Marvel nerd I do not like this at all. Loving Thunderbolts vibes but can’t we just leave it to that?’

‘They done destroyed the greatest superhero franchise ever,’ Adnaan added.

As per usual, when it comes to trigger-happy Marvel fans convinced that the MCU will never be as great as it was during the Infinity War and Endgame era, they need – quite simply – to calm down.

Putting aside the naysayers, many other people are extremely excited about what The New Avengers name change could mean for the future of the franchise – myself included – and they have good reason to be.

Let’s take a trip back to the year 2016, when Captain America: Civil War was released in cinemas, a film that’s widely regarded as one of the best ever released by Marvel Studios.

(It’s currently number five on IMDb’s list of the top-rated MCU films, and number 11 on Rotten Tomatoes, with a fresh ratings score of 90%).

Daniel Brühl played the main villain in the film, Helmut Zemo, who manipulated Bucky into reverting back into his lethal Winter Soldier state using a brainwashing technique. But while Zemo might have been pulling the strings to pit the superheroes against one another, he wasn’t really the cause of the conflict at the centre of the story.

That conflict was the discovery made by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) that Bucky had assassinated his parents when he was still the Winter Soldier. And to rub even more salt into the wound, his comrade Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) had known the truth and kept it from him.

Cue one of the most devastating fight sequences in the MCU, which begins with Cap saying to Tony about Bucky: ‘He is my friend,’ to which Iron Man replies: ‘So was I.’

The breakdown of Steve and Tony’s friendship was utterly heartbreaking – and it looks like we could be headed in a similar direction now that Bucky is in The New Avengers, and his close friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is the new Captain America.

And as the second Thunderbolts post-credits scene reveals, Sam has told Bucky that he is not happy about them trying to trademark the Avengers name.

As much as I love Bucky and Sam being the best of friends – particularly when former lothario Bucky is trying to flirt with Sam’s sister, as he did in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier – the prospect of a future clash between them has piqued my interest.

The superheroes will, of course, have supervillain Doctor Doom to contend with (marking the return of Robert Downey Jr for the Doomsday saga). 

However, watching Bucky and Sam’s seemingly unbreakable friendship fracture, only to then (hopefully) build up again even stronger, is bound to take Marvel fans through the wringer with their emotions. In a good way, of course.

Look, I’ll be honest. I love the title Thunderbolts, and I’m still going to reference the film as such, even if Marvel Studios are now marketing the movie as The New Avengers. But I’m not mad at the rebrand, given the fascinating storyline it’s teeing up.

I’m proud to say ‘I told you so’ to everyone who thought Thunderbolts would fail. This team of misfits proves the future of the MCU is looking bright.

If you didn’t think it before, you can’t deny it now. And there’s no asterisk on that. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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