After Hearing The Thunderbolts* Plot Twist That Brings The Team Together, I Need To Watch The MCU Movie More Than Ever

Now I’ve heard the Thunderbolts* plot twist that brings the unlikely MCU team together, I need to watch the Marvel movie more than ever. With the build up to 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday now well and truly underway in the last year before its release, the MCU’s 2025 movies are in a more important position than ever in terms of building up the franchise for the next Avengers film after Avengers: Endgame. Though Captain America: Brave New World and The Fantastic Four: First Steps play more clear roles in building to Doomsday, Thunderbolts* also has a key role in teeing things up.

Thunderbolts* is set to be the 2025 MCU movie that brings the most characters back into the fold, as its team appears to be comprised of Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, Ghost, and Taskmaster, though the final addition to the roster may end up being a temporary one based on her limited appearance in the film’s teasers. While relatively little is known about the group other than that they appear to be defending New York from The Void, the reveal of how the team comes together makes the story of Thunderbolts* already appear even more like a unique opportunity for Marvel.

How The Thunderbolts* Team Comes Together In The MCU Movie

The Marvel Team Has An Unusual Origin Story

In an interview with Empire, Thunderbolts* Executive Producer Brian Chapek addressed the matter of how the unlikely group of antiheroes and former MCU villains ends up banding together. Chapek stated:

“Valentina actually sends them to kill each other“, elaborating that “They realise that the only way out of this is to work together. There’s this tenuous truce.“

This aligns with the trailers released for Thunderbolts* thus far, which have depicted the team fighting and seemingly trying to kill one another alongside scenes of them operating as an actual group, raising several theories about how the MCU movie’s story featured them clashing at more than one point. The idea of the team’s first group meeting being them trying to murder one another is an oddly charming one, which sounds as though it could immediately highlight the unique appeal of the film that Thunderbolts* can use to its advantage.

The Thunderbolts* Team’s Origin Story Makes Their Movie Even More Interesting

The Thunderbolts Start Off On A Very Different Note To Most MCU Hero Teams

The majority of MCU teams thus far have been established due to a shared interest in co-operation, even if this is a reluctant one at first. The Avengers were drawn together by Nick Fury and then decided to stay a group who could deal with threats to the world, the Guardians Of The Galaxy similarly banded together as a galactic team of outlaws who still all also wanted to try and help people and do the right thing where possible, and teams like the Howling Commandos and Dora Milaje have operated to try and protect their respective countries from harm.

As such, the fact the Thunderbolts instead come together initially trying to outright kill one another is all the more interesting, since it underlines the fact that these characters are largely current or former assassins and covert operatives whose lives and morals have historically been the opposite of the vast majority of the MCU’s superheroes. With much of the promotion leaning into the idea that this team is drastically different to conventional superhero stories, kicking things off with a decidedly unheroic origin story of how the group meets seems like a wise if unconventional move.

The Thunderbolts* Team’s Origin Story Reinforces Them As The Anti-Avengers

The Contrast Between The Two MCU Teams’ Origins Are Striking

Promotional materials for the Thunderbolts* movie have repeatedly leaned into the idea that they are the opposite of the Avengers, with a Thunderbolts* poster from Marvel Studios Japan containing the tagline “The Avengers are not available“, and another Marvel poster for the movie stating “Careful who you assemble“, in reference to the famous “Avengers assemble” line. The trailers have also delved into this territory, with Valentina ominously stating “The Avengers are not coming” in the Super Bowl Thunderbolts* trailer before the Thunderbolts are shown reluctantly stepping up in their absence.

Given the emphasis on the Thunderbolts existing as a sort of opposite to the Avengers, hearing just how different their own origin story is to The Avengers‘ tale of a team being intentionally brought together by a government agent makes a lot of sense. This also helps reinforce the idea that the film will be a fresh experience for those who feel too accustomed to the traditional superhero stories of the MCU, which bodes nicely for Thunderbolts* as a lone movie and as a film that can theoretically build towards a new future for the franchise.