In a recent interview with The New York Times, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier discussed how the in-universe public's reaction to the reveal of the New Avengers changed after test screenings. What is now a muted, confused reaction, followed by a montage of skeptical headlines, used to be more celebratory, Schreier explained.
He said that originally, he "assumed there’d be a cheer" at the reveal of the replacements to the Avengers. But test audiences reacted with "more of an uncertain, halting applause," and "didn’t know how to feel about it at first." This, Schreier said, is what led to the skeptical reaction shown in Thunderbolts*'s credits:
"To be honest, that came from testing. When I was making the movie and listening to the score and imagining that moment, I assumed there’d be a cheer. When we actually tested it, it was more of an uncertain, halting applause and people didn’t know how to feel about it at first. That’s where the title sequence comes from."
Schreier explained the almost meta messaging of that sequence in the credits. He said that he wanted to be sure audiences knew "that we understood this isn’t necessarily obvious or even going to work," but the sequence would be able to "take you through that process:"
"It felt like we needed to show the audience that we understood this isn’t necessarily obvious or even going to work but hopefully you come to embrace it, and that sequence could take you through that process."
Thunderbolts* — which Marvel is now calling *The New Avengers — stars Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine), and Lewis Pullman (Bob/Sentry/Void), alongside an ensemble playing other MCU misfits and outsiders.
How the Ending of Thunderbolts* Reflects Real Life
Something noteworthy about the end of Thunderbolts* — the muted, confused reaction and skeptical headlines — is how similar it is to the real reactions MCU fans had to the announcement of the Thunderbolts* movie and lineup a few years ago.
Thunderbolts*'s title (sans the asterisk, which came later) was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022 after being rumored for some time. Then, the team's lineup was revealed a couple of months later at that year's D23 Expo. While fans were fairly excited by the title, the lineup had many confused and concerned.
Not everyone felt negatively or even skeptically toward it, but a vocal crowd did. The primary sentiment seemed to be, "Who wants this?"
Many were quick to notice that this specific group of characters was never on the Thunderbolts together in the comics. Others noticed that besides Ghost, the team was all tactical fighters, with no real diversity of abilities among them, though this was before Sentry's involvement was revealed.
Many of the headlines shown about the New Avengers in the credits of Thunderbolts* reflect this sentiment, just in-universe. People are wondering who these people are, why they are, if they will be an effective team, and similar worries.
Much of Thunderbolts* seemed to have that energy under the surface, with it being a meta-commentary on the public perception of superhero media and what it stands for. But arguably, the credits were the most explicit take on this in the whole movie.
It remains to be seen if the skeptics will be proven wrong in the MCU, as the real-world doubtful were about Thunderbolts* as a movie and the team it stars.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
