I’m Convinced Marvel’s New Thunderbolts* Trailer Just Made The MCU’s Dark Avengers Theory More Likely

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After the new Thunderbolts* trailer, I believe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting ready to reveal a Dark Avengers twist based on a popular theory. One of the issues I have had with the Multiverse Saga is that a lot of characters have debuted in recent years but have yet to interact in the MCU. That is why I’m so excited about Thunderbolts*. The second of Marvel Studios’ 2025 movies will bring back a nice mix of fan favorites, underused, and new MCU characters that promise to make it one of the best entries in the Multiverse Saga.

With Thunderbolts*‘s cast of characters featuring players like Bucky Barnes and Yelena Belova, I can’t wait to see what the interactions between the team will be like. The MCU movie’s trailers have teased that a fun dynamic will be in play. However, the story of Thunderbolts* will be much more than that. The latest trailer for the MCU movie set up a major threat to the team, showing why they came together in the first place. After some teases, the Thunderbolts’ connections to the Avengers were firmly established, and I’m convinced that makes an MCU theory way more likely.

The New Thunderbolts* Trailer Fully Revealed Avengers Tower’s Makeover

The Answer To A Long-Running MCU Mystery Has Been Revealed

Avengers Tower is one of the most iconic locations in the MCU. 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming revealed that Avengers Tower was being sold by Tony Stark, as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had moved to the new Avengers Compound. Two years later, 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home shared a new update on the location, with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker swinging past the building, which revealed that the former Avengers Tower was undergoing some construction work to give it a new look. Thunderbolts*‘s first trailer allows Marvel fans to finally see what the renovations were about, as the MCU film reveals Avengers Tower’s owner.

Avengers Tower’s buyer happens to be Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the MCU character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who slowly assembled the Thunderbolts over the MCU’s past few years. The reveal had already been teased by previous Thunderbolts* trailers. In them, members of the MCU’s new team arrived at what looked to be the location to talk with Valentina, who was clearly their host. After joining the MCU as a shadowy figure, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever revealed that Valentina is the Director of the CIA in the MCU. This explains why Tony Stark would be okay selling it to her.

After some internal shots with Valentina and the Thunderbolts suggested that they were talking at the new Avengers Tower, the new trailer for Marvel’s Thunderbolts* confirmed that to be the case with external shots. One of them shows the iconic layout of the building, including its helipad, as Sentry — or his evil version, the Void — floated outside Valentina’s new building. As one of the most important locations in MCU history, serving as the first headquarters for the Avengers, I find the presence of Avengers Tower as a location owned by the character who assembles the Thunderbolts to be very interesting.

The Reason Why The Thunderbolts* Come Together Has To Do With The Avengers

The MCU Needs Its Premiere Team Of Heroes

I found the new Thunderbolts* trailer to be enlightening, as it not only teased the major threat the team will face and revealed Valentina’s purchase of Avengers Tower, but it also explained why the team comes together. What surprised me about that was how Marvel is really leaning into the Avengers comparisons for the Thunderbolts. The new MCU movie trailer opened with Valentina claiming that “The Avengers are not coming” and showing people being killed by a powerful new MCU character whose face remains hidden in the shadows for now, but I’m certain is Sentry as his the Void persona.

Valentina’s words to the congress cemented what we already knew. The Avengers have been inactive in the MCU since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, with a new roster resurrecting the team in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. After the camera focuses on Bucky, when Valentina finishes asking, “Who will keep the American people safe?” it is clear that the Thunderbolts have to do what the Avengers can’t. Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes then ties up the other members of the Thunderbolts and tells them they have to help him stop this major new threat. The Thunderbolts are the replacement for the Avengers in this story.

Thunderbolts* Will See Another Major Battle For New York 13 Years Later

The New MCU Movie Brings Back The Avengers’ Setting

I don’t think that it is a coincidence that there are so many connections between the Thunderbolts and the Avengers. Besides the team seemingly calling the revamped Avengers Tower its center of operations through Valentina and the Thunderbolts coming together to deal with a villain the Avengers should have been around to take down, it also happens to be the case that Thunderbolts* will do just what 2012’s The Avengers did. Sentry, as the Void, will present a major threat to New York like Loki did when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes first teamed up.

Avengers: Endgame has already revisited the MCU’s Battle of New York, and the results were great. Thunderbolts*‘s similar setup makes me very excited about the MCU movie, as all signs point toward it birthing the Dark Avengers. All the connections to the Avengers present in the new Thunderbolts* trailer help the popular theory that the team will be renamed at the end of the film, with the surviving members of the Thunderbolts becoming the Dark Avengers. The theory started after Marvel Studios added an asterisk to the end of the movie’s title, and it has roots in the comics.

How The Comics Explain The Dark Avengers Theory

The Thunderbolts And The Avengers Will Co-Exist In The MCU

Besides the connections established between the Thunderbolts and the Avengers in the trailers for the second MCU movie of 2025, the comics explain why there is a good chance that the asterisk in Thunderbolts* is related to the team becoming the Dark Avengers by the end of the film. In the pages of Marvel Comics, that very situation has already happened. Starting out as the Thunderbolts, issue #175 of the team’s comic book series saw a surprise name change to Dark Avengers, with Norman Osborn serving as the leader of the team.

I’m convinced the same is happening in the MCU, as there are simply too many connections for it all to be one big coincidence. I think that the Thunderbolts turning into the Dark Avengers addresses one of the biggest complaints the MCU has dealt with during the Multiverse Saga. The Avengers’ absence has frustrated fans, and with teams like the Dark Avengers and the Young Avengers, who were set up in The Marvels, the MCU appears to not only be bringing back a new version of the Avengers next year but also establishing different takes on the team, starting in Thunderbolts*.

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“}]] Thunderbolts* could lead to a major Avenger twist.  Read More