Marvel removes two MCU stars from new Disney Plus marketing banners

Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* has finally arrived on Disney Plus. The 36th Marvel Cinematic Universe movie was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated outings of the year (from any studio) and after its positive reviews during its theatrical run, fans were ready to revisit it - or watch it for the first time - when it made its debut on the streaming service on August 27.

The film went straight to the top of the platform's charts, debuting at No. 1 in the US within 24 hours of its arrival. It's not surprising given how popular the film was, and Marvel ran out a lot more marketing across its various social platforms to ensure that its devoted MCU fanbase knew that the film had finally arrived on the streaming service.

However, fans noticed some major charges to this particular stint of the Thunderbolts* marketing campaign - particularly the removal of two major MCU characters.

Bob and Taskmaster removed from Disney Plus' Thunderbolts* marketing

Ahead of the Thunderbolts* launch on Disney Plus, Marvel Studios unveiled a brand new poster for the film. This is a similar approach to the ones we saw with previous MCU offerings, as the studio often releases new artwork and graphics for each respective Disney Plus release. However, in the case of Thunderbolts*, the poster redesigned previous artwork for the movie, using the same character shots in a different sequence. The big difference, however, is that two characters were removed from this new variation of the poster. Those characters are none other than Taskmaster and Bob, a.k.a. Sentry.

Check out the poster below:

That's not the only altered artwork either. Upon the film's release on Disney Plus, a large banner featuring one of the most iconic shots of all the characters from the film was placed atop the Disney Plus homepage. However, Taskmaster and Bob are once again missing from this one. And the film's thumbnail? The official Thunderbolts* poster which ended up being used on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases, but with Taskmaster and Bob no longer featured.

So why did Marvel decide to pull the two MCU characters from the movie's newest wave of marketing? Well, there is an obvious answer for Taskmaster, so look away now if you haven't seen the movie yet because we're about to venture into SPOILERS territory.

Antonia Dreykov, a.k.a. Taskmaster, is barely given a chance to feature in the movie as the character is shockingly killed off just a few minutes into the opening battle. It was a major surprise to many as Taskmaster was featured in all of the promotional material for the movie ahead of its theatrical release (including its entire marketing campaign). With the new marketing campaign centering on the big New Avengers twist, Marvel likely decided to remove Taskmaster from the artwork as she doesn't get the chance to become one of the MCU's newest heroes.

As for Bob? The character is portrayed to be the villain for much of the film, with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine trying to use The Sentry for her own means (before he evolves into The Void). Perhaps featuring him in all of those New Avengers posters would have spoiled the film for those who didn't know about its big twists. After all, if you know that Bob is set to become one of the New Avengers before watching the movie, it would take some of the stakes out of the major moments of the film.

There's also the fact that the franchise may not officially consider Bob to be one of the New Avengers yet. Remember, the film's end credits did say that "The New Avengers and Bob will return", highlighting that they are still separate entites for the moment. And as Bob can't be The Sentry right now, the MCU could be waiting until he embraces his powers once again in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars to officially consider him a member of the team.

The removal of Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster and Lewis Pullman's Bob is certainly a surprising decision considering that Marvel relied so heavily on them both in the original marketing campaign for the movie. But with the rebrand to The New Avengers, the studio may just be assuming that everyone is aware of the roles that both characters play in the movie now. And with that, spotlighting just the heroes who are officially considered the New Avengers may have been what they deemed the better choice.

Speaking of the New Avengers, all of them will return (along with Bob!) as Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell's John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, David Harbour's Red Guardian, and Lewis Pullman's Bob are all confirmed to appear in next year's Avengers: Doomsday. So, one way or another, Bob is a part of the team!

Thunderbolts* is now streaming on Disney Plus.