Warning: This article contains spoilers for Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*.
The asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title was the biggest mystery in the lead-up to the Marvel movie. Now that Thunderbolts* is now in theaters, the symbol’s meaning has been revealed.
After the Thunderbolts save the city, the group plans to arrest the mastermind behind the conflict, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Right before they can apprehend her, de Fontaine holds a press conference and announces the Thunderbolts will be known as the New Avengers.
Marvel Studios is now officially changing the title to The New Avengers in all of its branding and marketing. Members of the New Avengers include Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, and Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost.
Presenting Marvel Studios’ #̶T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶o̶l̶t̶s̶* #TheNewAvengers.
Now playing only in theaters. Get tickets: https://t.co/bFq0RNeRhc pic.twitter.com/ACemttyCx3
They have a̶r̶r̶i̶v̶e̶d̶ assembled!
T̶h̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶b̶o̶l̶t̶s̶* The New Avengers is now playing in theaters. Get tickets: https://t.co/bFq0RNfp6K https://t.co/lIUa8CJCBx pic.twitter.com/8YiRGAVpfE
The ending post-credits scene jumps ahead 14 months into the future, with the New Avengers and Bob (Lewis Pullman) living at the Watchtower, the old Avengers’ tower. The New Avengers are in a legal battle with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) over the copyright ownership of the Avengers trademark.
After the comedic moment, the big reveal comes toward the end of the scene, when the New Avengers learn that a ship with the Fantastic Four’s logo is heading toward Earth. This meeting sets up the eventual team-up between the New Avengers and the Fantastic Four in Avengers: Doomsday, which is now filming in London.
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* registered an opening weekend of $76 million domestically, which puts it in the neighborhood of 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($75 million).
Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers is now in theaters nationwide.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.