This story contains spoilers for “Thunderbolts*” and is meant to be read after seeing the film.
Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” has been released into the world, which means it’s finally time for that other longstanding MCU tradition — discussing its post-credits scenes.
Directed by Jake Schreier, “Thunderbolts*” follows a group of villains-turned-antiheroes from disparate corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, led by Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), as they reluctantly join forces to help save the world.
The film is a return to familiar form for the ever-expanding superhero franchise. It’s a classic Marvel team-up featuring not-so-classic characters including John Walker (Wyatt Russell) from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Ava Starr a.k.a. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) from “Black Widow,” Antonia Dreykov a.k.a. Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) from “Black Widow” and new character Bob (Lewis Pullman).
In another return to form, “Thunderbolts*” features two end credits scenes. The first, a mid-credits scene, offers a glimpse of how life has changed for the newly minted superhero squad now that they aren’t disgraced former heroes or mercenaries operating in the shadows. Alexei, also known as Red Guardian, stops a customer in the cereal aisle of a grocery store in order to call attention to a box featuring the New Avengers. Alexei’s American dream of being on a box of Wheaties has finally come true. Whether the team has been accepted by the world, though, is another question.
The second scene, which is shown after the full credits finish rolling, is the more significant of the two as it teases what’s to come for the superhero squad as well as the MCU.
Set 14 months after the events of the main story, the team formerly informally known as the Thunderbolts* has hit a bit of a roadblock with its branding. While they had been dubbed the New Avengers by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) by the end of the movie, Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, is not at all pleased that they have claimed the Avengers’ name.
In “Captain America: Brave New World,” Sam had been given the go-ahead to assemble his own new team of Avengers. According to Yelena, Sam is threatening legal action to keep her team from using the name. This potentially sets up a tension between the two Avengers squads that could come into play whenever audiences finally see them cross paths, likely in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday.” The cast of the movie, slated for 2026, includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (Joaquín Torres), Letitia Wright (Black Panther) and Tenoch Huerta (Namor). But it has not yet been revealed which of these characters are officially members of the Avengers.
This second “Thunderbolts*” post-credits scene concludes with the appearance of a mysterious extradimensional spaceship with the number “4” displayed on its hull. The logo on the ship is that of the Fantastic Four, who are set to be introduced in July’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
The upcoming “Fantastic Four” film, which will kick off Phase 6 of the MCU, stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, respectively. Also known as Marvel’s First Family, the team in the comics gained superpowers while on a mission in space. “First Steps,” which will be set on an alternate 1960s-inspired retrofuturistic earth, will see the Fantastic Four take on a giant planet-eating cosmic entity called Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). The movie will also presumably show just how and why the Fantastic Four end up in the Avengers’ corner of the multiverse.
The Fantastic Four are also set to appear in “Doomsday,” which will mark former “Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU as Doctor Doom. While “Thunderbolts*” is the last film of the MCU’s current phase, Phase 5, which started with 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” will officially wrap with the upcoming “Ironheart” series, premiering on Disney+ in June.