It’s been a while since we’ve had a traditional Avengers movie, and even though Marvel Cinematic Universe overlord Kevin Feige suggested we’d have to wait a little longer for another, Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* is an Avengers-lite outing hiding in the shadows. While some clocked that the movie’s mysterious asterisks could be hiding an eventual Dark Avengers rebrand, others were on the money that Thunderbolts* was actually a placeholder for The New Avengers.
It didn’t take long for the MCU to retitle the ensemble as The New Avengers, but for those keeping up with things, you’ll know it puts Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) rag-tag team of rogues at odds with the old guard of Avengers that we expected to see back in action. Captain America: Brave New World saw President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) task Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) with reforming the Avengers. As we head into the events of Avengers: Doomsday, it looks like we’ll need all the Avengers we can get. This is good news for the MCU because we currently have two teams in operation.
The Avengers are not coming
The end of The New Avengers jumped forward 14 months and confirmed that Wilson wasn’t impressed with former pal Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) for suiting up as part of Val’s Avengers. David Harbour’s Red Guardian suggested that the Thunderbolts could revamp themselves as the Avengerz (note the Z), and while it’s all a bit of fun, Marvel Comics gives some hints of where things are likely heading. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is up next, but with The New Avengers'' post-credit scene lining up with the events of Matt Shakman’s upcoming movie, the Avengers' in-fighting is sure to spill over into Doomsday.
It feels like the MCU is putting its own spin on the Mighty Avengers and the New Avengers teams from the comics, with former Thunderbolts taking their place as the ‘official’ Avengers. The fabled “Avengers Disassembled” arc saw a rogue Scarlet Witch kill the likes of Hawkeye and Agatha Harkness, with the final issue seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes go their separate ways. This didn’t last long, as a breakout at the Raft caused the formation of the New Avengers with a roster that included Iron Man, Steve Rogers' Captain America, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Echo. There was also an unbalanced version of Sentry (played by Lewis Pullman in The New Avengers), who’d been imprisoned at the Raft. The group decided to remain in action until the events of Civil War and the Superhuman Registration Act tore them apart.
Any New Avengers adaptation would have to take things in a different direction due to Captain America: Civil War retooling the source material back in 2016. Still, the comics give more hints of where things could be heading. The supposed death of Rogers causes the New Avengers to become a fugitive splinter group, while the Mighty Avengers was formed as part of the Fifty State Initiative. 2007’s The Mighty Avengers No.1 featured an officially sanctioned team that was led by Tony Stark and Carol Danvers, with Wasp, Black Widow, Sentry, Wonder Man, and Ares lending support. Despite none of these being anywhere near The New Avengers, it feels like the ‘Thunderbolts’ team will take on the role of the Mighty Avengers in the MCU, with Valentina acting as a stand-in for Tony Stark.
Putting the 'new' in New Avengers
The Mighty Avengers was supposed to run alongside The New Avengers with the occasional crossover, but when artist Frank Cho fell behind schedule, those plans were condensed. It was a Marvel first as two Avengers teams worked against and alongside each other, although something obviously brought them back together. The encompassing Secret Invasion has the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers unite against a common cause, ironically with a little help from Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts (a very different lineup to the one Jake Schreier gave us in the MCU). Looking even further ahead, Norman Osborn landing the killer blow on Skrull Empress led to him taking over to lead a unified Avengers and using it for his evil schemes to unveil the Dark Avengers. Considering the Dark Avengers were eventually relaunched from the Thunderbolts comics, you can see why some thought Schreier’s Thunderbolts* was sowing the seeds of the Dark Avengers:
While Secret Invasion isn’t necessarily off the table, the disastrous Secret Invasion Disney+ series has seemingly put the brakes on a Skrull invasion for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, an upcoming catastrophe is paving the way for Bucky’s New Avengers and Cap’s Avengers to put their differences aside. Even though The New Avengers was an amuse-bouche akin to Captain America: Civil War ahead of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the two-part Doomsday and Secret Wars are poised to bring back a kitchen sink of heroes and villains. The growing cast list has already locked in The New Avengers gang, while Mackie's role will surely see him head up the MCU’s take on the New Avengers. Elsewhere, the inclusion of Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man likely spoils the surprise that they’ll be part of the reformed team. With Chris Hemsworth’s Thor also confirmed for Doomsday, he can carry the torch for the old guard.
There are some notable absences here, and although Kevin Feige told CinemaCon via video that more announcements are on the way, Phase 5 looked like it was cuing the likes of Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel for a revamped Avengers roster. Also, while Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is apparently sitting out Doomsday so he can lead Spider-Man: Brand New Day ahead of Secret Wars, there’s no way the wall-crawling hero won’t be part of whatever future the Avengers have.
Of course, none of this might matter. There are swirling rumors that the MCU could completely reboot following Secret Wars, and if that’s the case, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen to the New Avengers, Young Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers, West Coast Avengers, and all the rest.