1 Year Ago, Disney Officially Confirmed The End Of An Era For The Avengers

One year ago, everything changed for the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The team came together in 2012's blockbuster and went through a lot during their run. They battled Loki and the Chitauri, Ultron and his army of robots, lost the fight against Thanos, and came back together to finally defeat him in Avengers: Endgame. However, the deaths of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff, as well as Steve Rogers' decision to remain in the past, led to the team basically disbanding.

Since Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has been rather split up, with only minor team-ups. In fact, there wasn't even a key team in the franchise outside of the Guardians of the Galaxy until Thunderbolts* hit theaters on May 2, 2025. At first glance, this group of former antagonists coming together was thought to likely be a solid movie, but one that wouldn't have much impact on the greater MCU. Alas, that wasn't the case.

Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Alexei Shostakov, Ava Starr, and newly introduced Bob Reynolds formed a new team that ended up rewriting the history of the Avengers. On the verge of the Thunderbolts getting revenge on her, mastermind Valentina Allegra de Fontaine introduced them to the world as the new Avengers, changing everything.

1 Year Ago, Thunderbolts* Changed The Avengers In The MCU

Of course, things can't be so simple in the MCU. While Valentina Allegra de Fontaine introduced the former Thunderbolts as the new Avengers to the world, that doesn't mean everyone accepted it. For starters, most of the public know these people for their villainous actions. For example, the last time John Walker was in the public eye, he brutally murdered a man for the world to see. That hasn't made them a popular unit.

The post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* added to this, picking up over a year later as the team struggles with its public image. It also gets revealed that they're feuding with Sam Wilson, who put together his own Avengers team, over copyright infringement. They even reference an uneasy conversation that Sam and Bucky, who are friends, had over it. The MCU went from one team of Avengers to having none for several years to now having two, and they're entirely different.

How Thunderbolts* Set Up New Avengers Teams Ahead Of Doomsday

That post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* sets up the fact that we're likely to see more of this feud in Avengers: Doomsday. We know the star-studded cast of that film features all the members of the former Thunderbolts and the Fantastic Four, who are shown arriving in that post-credits scene, as well as the X-Men from the Fox films. There are also several other major names from the franchise in the cast list, which previews what's likely to come.

Sam Wilson's Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, Shang-Chi, Loki, Shuri's Black Panther, M'Baku, and more are set to appear, and it feels like they'll be part of the same team. It's very likely that these two Avengers teams will clash for a time, though it's expected that they will eventually learn that working together is the best route.

Given the trailers, a good prediction is that the Fantastic Four will bring them together. The Thunderbolts/Avengers see the Fantastic Four arrive in this universe, meaning they have a connection, and one of the trailers has shown Ben Grimm meeting with Shuri and M'Baku in Wakanda. That would give the Fantastic Four a bond with both sides, and given how they brought their universe together in their solo film, they're clearly a team that can broker peace.

It's unclear where either Avengers team will be by the time the credits roll on Avengers: Doomsday or if they'll become one fortified unit, but after years of uncertainty about the future of the MCU, Thunderbolts* changed everything and set something intriguing in motion.

Release Date May 2, 2025

Runtime 127 minutes

Director Jake Schreier

Writers Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo