section_path: Marketing
section_name: Marketing
paragraph_text: Marketing
  
  After filming had begun in March 2024, Pugh and Marvel Studios released a set video in which she showcased her new Black Widow costume and an updated logo for the film with Schreier. The new logo styled the title as " Thunderbolts* ". Kristen Lopez at TheWrap felt viewers would "start deconstructing the brief images she's shown immediately", while Sabina Graves of Gizmodo felt the video was delightful and a fun tease for a scene featuring Belova. She highlighted Pugh's short hair and her joking with Schreier that they "really shouldn't be showing any of this". Collider ' s Chris McPherson also discussed Pugh's costume, calling it "very military quite tactical", and noted her teal eyeliner. Several commentators questioned why there was an asterisk in the updated logo. The next month, Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts* was the official title and said the use of the asterisk would be explained following the film's release, which led to continued speculation as to its meaning. One theory suggested the team would not be called the Thunderbolts in the film, but rather a variation of the Avengers name such as the Dark Avengers or New Avengers. Another suggestion stated there was another Thunderbolts team in the MCU with characters more closely aligned to the rosters from the comics.
  
  A behind-the-scenes look was shown at CineEurope in June 2024, while the first footage from the film was shown at SDCC the next month, presented by Schreier and the cast. Harbour dressed as Red Guardian for the panel. Following online leaks of the SDCC footage, Marvel released an official look at the Thunderbolts team within their video celebrating the company's 85th anniversary in August. A teaser trailer for the film was released in a month later, featuring the song " Where Is My Mind? " by the Pixies. Tom Power at TechRadar said the teaser was a longer and higher quality version of the previously leaked footage, and felt the film was "looking very good". He highlighted the characters' struggles with identity as well as the action and tone of the teaser. Writing for The A.V. Club, Mary Kate Carr noted the various mysteries surrounding the film—including the asterisk in its title—and said the teaser "valiantly" refused to give up any secrets or plot details. A second trailer was shown during Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. Commentators stated that the trailer appeared to confirm speculation that the titular team would be fighting the Void, the malevolent alter-ego of Bob / Sentry. In the trailer, Red Guardian expresses hope that the team's achievements would get them featured on the cover of Wheaties, a cereal known for putting sports figures on its boxes and the slogan "The Breakfast of Champions". Alongside the trailer, Marvel Studios released a poster for the film that mimicked a Wheaties box featuring the team. Their social media posts for the poster were captioned "The Breakfast of Champions Thunderbolts*". An asterisk-themed international poster was also released, which included a footnote for the title asterisk which says "The Avengers Are Not Available". Kieran Fisher at /Film questioned whether this was a joke, or if it was the true meaning behind the asterisk in the film's title. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo and Scott Collura from IGN both believed the footnote fit with the film's marketing approach of presenting the team as a ragtag humorous group of heroes, rather than the asterisk being an "actual serious mystery".
  
  In March 2025, Letterboxd debuted a trailer for the film that is edited in the style of those for independent films produced by A24. It features techno music, an "A24-esque makeover" for the Marvel Studios logo, and title cards that highlight past A24 projects that the film's cast and crew members worked on. Schreier helped conceive the trailer, which was released around the same time Pugh described the film as an "indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes". Zosha Millman from Polygon said Marvel had "film buffs in mind" when releasing the trailer through Letterboxd. Despite the creative pedigree touted by the trailer, she thought Thunderbolts* would still be "largely what you expect" of a Marvel film. A24 was not aware of the trailer before its release and responded on social media with a meme from its HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present). Later in March, Marvel Studios announced that many MCU cast members would be reprising their roles for the crossover film Avengers: Doomsday, including Stan, Russell, Pugh, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen. Commentators discussed whether this announcement, which seemingly revealed characters who survive the film's events and aligned with speculation that Taskmaster would die early in the story due to limited presence in trailers, was a spoiler. Michael Walsh at Nerdist criticized the announcement, feeling it had undermined one of the key reasons some people were interested in Thunderbolts*, which was the feeling that any of the main cast could die. He compared this to spoiling who survives the events of The Dirty Dozen (1967), and said Marvel should have excluded the Thunderbolts* cast members from the Doomsday announcement. Amelia Emberwing of IGN said "knowing who makes it out alive much in a comic book franchise" and also felt the announcement was not necessarily a spoiler because the returning actors could be playing versions of their characters from other universes within the multiverse.
  
  Various fan screenings occurred on April 22, 2025, in 10 major cities across the U.S. At the end of April, Marvel announced a collaboration with Wheaties to create a limited edition box of the cereal, mimicking the Wheaties-inspired poster for the film. The film's marketing campaign was valued between $75–100 million, and featured partnerships with Harley-Davidson, Tide, Wheaties, Mike and Ike, Cupra Kiro with Formula E racing, LinkedIn, Perfect Sports, and Arizona Beverage Company.
  
  Following the film's opening weekend, Marvel Studios rebranded the film as The New Avengers. The studio released a video of the cast tearing away the Thunderbolts* logo from the poster to reveal The New Avengers, billboards and theater marquees were also updated to The New Avengers, and new posters were released. Schreier explained that revealing and embracing the updated title felt like it was part of the studio's plan and had been built up to since the asterisk was first included in the film's title. Disney clarified that the film was not formally retitled, just that the asterisk was "spelled out", and ticketing services still listed the film as Thunderbolts*, despite featuring the updated posters with the New Avengers name. Sydney Bucksbaum of Entertainment Weekly felt this was the first instance a film "planned in advance to change its title a few days after its release for narrative purposes".
  
  After filming had begun in March 2024, Pugh and Marvel Studios released a set video in which she showcased her new Black Widow costume and an updated logo for the film with Schreier. The new logo styled the title as " Thunderbolts* ". Kristen Lopez at TheWrap felt viewers would "start deconstructing the brief images she's shown immediately", while Sabina Graves of Gizmodo felt the video was delightful and a fun tease for a scene featuring Belova. She highlighted Pugh's short hair and her joking with Schreier that they "really shouldn't be showing any of this". Collider ' s Chris McPherson also discussed Pugh's costume, calling it "very military quite tactical", and noted her teal eyeliner. Several commentators questioned why there was an asterisk in the updated logo. The next month, Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts* was the official title and said the use of the asterisk would be explained following the film's release, which led to continued speculation as to its meaning. One theory suggested the team would not be called the Thunderbolts in the film, but rather a variation of the Avengers name such as the Dark Avengers or New Avengers. Another suggestion stated there was another Thunderbolts team in the MCU with characters more closely aligned to the rosters from the comics.
  
  A behind-the-scenes look was shown at CineEurope in June 2024, while the first footage from the film was shown at SDCC the next month, presented by Schreier and the cast. Harbour dressed as Red Guardian for the panel. Following online leaks of the SDCC footage, Marvel released an official look at the Thunderbolts team within their video celebrating the company's 85th anniversary in August. A teaser trailer for the film was released in a month later, featuring the song " Where Is My Mind? " by the Pixies. Tom Power at TechRadar said the teaser was a longer and higher quality version of the previously leaked footage, and felt the film was "looking very good". He highlighted the characters' struggles with identity as well as the action and tone of the teaser. Writing for The A.V. Club, Mary Kate Carr noted the various mysteries surrounding the film—including the asterisk in its title—and said the teaser "valiantly" refused to give up any secrets or plot details. A second trailer was shown during Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. Commentators stated that the trailer appeared to confirm speculation that the titular team would be fighting the Void, the malevolent alter-ego of Bob / Sentry. In the trailer, Red Guardian expresses hope that the team's achievements would get them featured on the cover of Wheaties, a cereal known for putting sports figures on its boxes and the slogan "The Breakfast of Champions". Alongside the trailer, Marvel Studios released a poster for the film that mimicked a Wheaties box featuring the team. Their social media posts for the poster were captioned "The Breakfast of Champions Thunderbolts*". An asterisk-themed international poster was also released, which included a footnote for the title asterisk which says "The Avengers Are Not Available". Kieran Fisher at /Film questioned whether this was a joke, or if it was the true meaning behind the asterisk in the film's title. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo and Scott Collura from IGN both believed the footnote fit with the film's marketing approach of presenting the team as a ragtag humorous group of heroes, rather than the asterisk being an "actual serious mystery".
  
  In March 2025, Letterboxd debuted a trailer for the film that is edited in the style of those for independent films produced by A24. It features techno music, an "A24-esque makeover" for the Marvel Studios logo, and title cards that highlight past A24 projects that the film's cast and crew members worked on. Schreier helped conceive the trailer, which was released around the same time Pugh described the film as an "indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes". Zosha Millman from Polygon said Marvel had "film buffs in mind" when releasing the trailer through Letterboxd. Despite the creative pedigree touted by the trailer, she thought Thunderbolts* would still be "largely what you expect" of a Marvel film. A24 was not aware of the trailer before its release and responded on social media with a meme from its HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present). Later in March, Marvel Studios announced that many MCU cast members would be reprising their roles for the crossover film Avengers: Doomsday, including Stan, Russell, Pugh, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen. Commentators discussed whether this announcement, which seemingly revealed characters who survive the film's events and aligned with speculation that Taskmaster would die early in the story due to limited presence in trailers, was a spoiler. Michael Walsh at Nerdist criticized the announcement, feeling it had undermined one of the key reasons some people were interested in Thunderbolts*, which was the feeling that any of the main cast could die. He compared this to spoiling who survives the events of The Dirty Dozen (1967), and said Marvel should have excluded the Thunderbolts* cast members from the Doomsday announcement. Amelia Emberwing of IGN said "knowing who makes it out alive much in a comic book franchise" and also felt the announcement was not necessarily a spoiler because the returning actors could be playing versions of their characters from other universes within the multiverse.
  
  Various fan screenings occurred on April 22, 2025, in 10 major cities across the U.S. At the end of April, Marvel announced a collaboration with Wheaties to create a limited edition box of the cereal, mimicking the Wheaties-inspired poster for the film. The film's marketing campaign was valued between $75–100 million, and featured partnerships with Harley-Davidson, Tide, Wheaties, Mike and Ike, Cupra Kiro with Formula E racing, LinkedIn, Perfect Sports, and Arizona Beverage Company.
  
  Following the film's opening weekend, Marvel Studios rebranded the film as The New Avengers. The studio released a video of the cast tearing away the Thunderbolts* logo from the poster to reveal The New Avengers, billboards and theater marquees were also updated to The New Avengers, and new posters were released. Schreier explained that revealing and embracing the updated title felt like it was part of the studio's plan and had been built up to since the asterisk was first included in the film's title. Disney clarified that the film was not formally retitled, just that the asterisk was "spelled out", and ticketing services still listed the film as Thunderbolts*, despite featuring the updated posters with the New Avengers name. Sydney Bucksbaum of Entertainment Weekly felt this was the first instance a film "planned in advance to change its title a few days after its release for narrative purposes".