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Marvel's new New Thunderbolts* comic is actually New Avengers as rebranding synergy strikes post-movie
If you were wondering why Marvel Comics' New Thunderbolts* had an asterisk, it's because of corporate synergy as the Avengers reveal spreads beyond the MCU
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As above, so below — or, rather, as on screen, so in comics. Marvel Comics has revealed that the June 2025 comic book series originally announced as The New Thunderbolts* will actually be titled The New Avengers when it makes it to the stands.
"Plot twist — it's been NEW AVENGERS all along!” writer Sam Humphries said in a statement about the title change. “I promised surprises, and this is the first of many. It's a thrill and an honor to continue the grand New Avengers tradition of team dynamics that are as explosive as the threats. And this era has two combustible teams: the New Avengers and the Killuminati!"
In its announcement of the title change, Marvel said that the switch up “echoes the jaw-dropping twist in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, now in theaters, while introducing an entirely new—and shocking—team of heroes.” (It also describes the change as the “first-of-its-kind,” which suggests that no-one at Marvel remembers that its own 2007 series The Order was originally announced and promoted as The Champions before the title being changed ahead of publication due to copyright issues.)
The new series features a new team brought together by the Winter Soldier — the Hulk, Carnage, Black Widow, Namor, Clea, and Laura Kinney’s Wolverine — to fight evil clones of the Illuminati, the smartest heroes in the Marvel Universe. What this means for the team that the Winter Soldier currently belongs to… who happen to be called the Thunderbolts, and feature a line-up that parallels the MCU Thunderbolts/New Avengers… remains to be seen; their fates will presumably be revealed in the final issue of Thunderbolts: Doomstrike, due for release May 21.
The New Avengers #1 is set for release June 11.
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