By the end of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, it’s official: We have our New Avengers, and they are none other than the team formerly known as the Thunderbolts.
That’s right: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), and Robert Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) are now Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. (Bob might take some time though, given the threat of his Void persona.)
However, as the end-credits scene for Thunderbolts* reveals, there’s some competition for the title of New Avengers. The scene takes place in the Avengers’ tower, 14 months after the events of the movie. The now well-established New Avengers are discussing the fact that Captain America himself, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), apparently wants to put together his own New Avengers. He’s even filed for copyright of the name!
The scene is full of Thunderbolts banter — like should they be called Avengerz instead? — but the Sam Wilson discussion does raise a big question:
Who is on Sam Wilson’s team of Avengers?
The movie’s end-credits scene does not confirm who Sam has in mind for his own team of Avengers, but based on the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, we’ve got some ideas.
The Doomsday cast features four major sub-groups: the returning X-Men cast, including Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen; the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps cast, including Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby; the New Avengers introduced in Thunderbolts*; and everyone else. It’s highly likely that the people in the “everyone else” group — minus Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom — will make up Sam’s Avengers.
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The most obvious pick is Joaquín Torres/Falcon (Danny Ramirez), who played a big part in Captain America: Brave New World and who certainly isn’t leaving Sam’s side. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) are also likely candidates, along with Shang-Chi (Simu Liu).
Other returning characters include Wakanda’s Shuri/Black Panther (Letitia Wright) and M’Baku (Winston Duke). Could a Wakanda-Avengers alliance be forthcoming? The same goes for Talokan’s ruler, Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
There are some characters who weren’t a part of the casting announcement that we’d still like to see return to the Avengers, though, including Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau/Photon (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). Bring them back!
The Fantastic Four are officially in play.
Sam’s New Avengers aren’t the only major reveal in the Thunderbolts* end-credits scene. We also get a tease of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
As Yelena and Bucky talk about how to deal with Sam, they receive an alert that an “extra-dimensional ship” is entering the atmosphere. It’s none other than the Fantastic Four’s spaceship, complete with their logo on the side!
The ship isn’t around for long, but based on its arrival, it seems like the Fantastic Four have left their dimension and wound up in the Avengers’. But what caused them to leave in the first place? I’m guessing we’ll find out in First Steps.
Thunderbolts* is now in theaters.
