The plot of the upcoming Thunderbolts* film can be explained a lot by the introduction of Norman Osborn.

Reintroducing villains or anti-heroes from former movies hasn’t really been MCU’s style ever since it was kicked off with Iron Man back in 2008. Characters like Loki and Bucky Barnes have been an exception in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe as they have already redeemed themselves in multiple movies and series over the years.

Thunderbolts*Marvel’s Thunderbolts*
However, we are all set to see multiple anti-heroes from former Marvel movies reprise their role and combine their forces to take down a greater threat in the upcoming film, Thunderbolts*.

Kevin Feige opens up about the asterisk in Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts is the name of an anti-hero team appearing in Marvel comics that mostly consists of reformed supervillains. A film of the same name is also currently under development that will most probably explore the origins of this anti-hero team.

The current boss of MCU, Kevin Feige, officially announced the movie at last week’s CinemaCon 2024 while unveiling a concept art of the movie by artist Andy Park. According to the concept art, multiple popular anti-hero characters like Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova, The Red Guardian, and John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, will also be a part of this anti-hero team.

Thunderbolts* concept artThunderbolts* concept art released by Kevin Feige at CinemaCon | Credits: Andy Park
Adding the asterisk to the title of the movie has also sparked a lot of speculation around it, and Kevin Feige also addressed the same while presenting the film at CinemaCon last week. He said,

“Yes, you’ll notice the asterisk on Thunderbolts*. That is the official title of Thunderbolts* and we won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.”

May 5, 2025, has been announced as the release date for Thunderbolts* in the US.

Thunderbolts* can also bring back this iconic Spider-Man supervillain

A lot of iconic supervillains and anti-heroes have been a part of the Thunderbolts* team in the comics. One of the most iconic supervillains that we have seen in the MCU recently, Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin was also the leader of the popular anti-hero team in the past.

Norman Osborn was last shown in the movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, at the climax of which the character was sent back to his home universe. Considering how his memory would’ve been wiped by Peter Parker as he was transported back to his own universe, Osborn would have had no recollection of him ever being Green Goblin and the character is most probably alive.

Norman Osborn

Norman Osborn can also be a part of the upcoming Thunderbolts* movie | Source: Spider-Man: No Way Home

A fan recently also took to X (formerly Twitter) and explained how Norman Osborn appearing in Thunderbolts* can also explain the asterisk mark in the title as the name of the film can be allegedly changed to ‘Dark Avengers’.

The theory that the name of the film Thunderbolts* will be eventually changed to ‘Dark Avengers’ has been making a lot of headlines recently after it was revealed that Harrison Ford will be reprising his role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Thunderbolts*, and Captain America: Brave New World.