Thunderbolts post credit scenes explained (light spoilers)
This section sets up both scenes without giving away how the film ends. The mid-credits scene is a short, lighter beat with the team, played mostly for laughs. Enjoy it, but nothing hinges on it.
The end-credits scene is the one people talk about. It skips ahead more than a year. The team has settled into a new routine, and an argument over who gets to use a certain famous name is brewing with Sam Wilson. Then something arrives from far away: a spacecraft marked with a very familiar 4. That image ties this film directly to The Fantastic 4: First Steps and to Avengers: Doomsday, where those threads are expected to meet.
One more hint about the title. The asterisk is a joke the film pays off in its final minutes, and the end-credits scene builds on it. We will leave the punchline for you to find.
What to watch before Thunderbolts
The two must-sees are Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Black Widow introduces Yelena Belova and Alexei, the Red Guardian, and its ending explains the grief Yelena carries into this film. The series gives you Bucky Barnes after the Avengers era, plus John Walker, the replacement Captain America who did not work out, and the first appearance of Valentina.
| Title | What it sets up | Required? |
|---|
| Black Widow | Yelena, Alexei and Taskmaster | Yes |
| The Falcon and the Winter Soldier | Bucky, John Walker and Valentina | Yes |
| Hawkeye | Where Yelena went next | Helpful |
| Ant-Man and the Wasp | Ghost and her origin | Helpful |
| Captain America: Brave New World | Sam Wilson as Captain America | Helpful |
None of the helpful extras are strictly needed, but Hawkeye in particular adds weight to Yelena's mood in the opening scenes.
Where to watch Thunderbolts
In the US it streams on Disney Plus, along with every title in the table above. Outside the US, availability varies by country; the watch box on this page lists the services we track for your region.
Thunderbolts explained: the story without spoilers
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, now director of the CIA, has a problem: evidence of her own dirty work. Her fix is to send her deniable operatives to destroy it, and several of them end up in the same sealed vault, each under orders to take out the others. Caught in the middle of that standoff is Bob, a confused man with no idea why he is there.
Stuck together, the mismatched group has to decide whether to cooperate long enough to escape. Jake Schreier keeps the action grounded and physical, and the film spends real time on depression, loneliness and the feeling of being a failure. It is much funnier than that sounds, mostly thanks to Florence Pugh and David Harbour.
Who are the Thunderbolts and why the film matters
The Thunderbolts are antiheroes and castoffs who have never been anyone's first pick: Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, John Walker, Ghost and Taskmaster, with Bob caught up among them. The film gives Yelena the lead role many fans wanted after Black Widow, hands Bucky something new to do and introduces Robert Reynolds, a character with big implications for what comes next.
We mark it essential. The ending shifts the MCU's status quo heading into the next Avengers films, and skipping it would leave a gap. Our essential Marvel movies and shows guide keeps it in, and our Multiverse Saga in order guide shows how it connects to the rest of Phases 4 to 6.
Where it fits in the timeline
On our timeline the film is set in 2027. It follows Captain America: Brave New World and comes before Ironheart, a Disney Plus series with few links to this story. It is a Phase 5 film, and our Marvel Phase 5 in order guide lists everything around it.
Cast and characters
Florence Pugh leads as Yelena, the sharpest and saddest member of the group. Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov and Wyatt Russell as John Walker. Harbour gets many of the biggest laughs as a washed-up super soldier who badly wants to be a hero again. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Valentina with obvious enjoyment, and Lewis Pullman is Robert "Bob" Reynolds, the newcomer at the center of the story.
Runtime and viewing tips
Thunderbolts runs 127 minutes, a little over two hours. Watching Black Widow the night before works well, since the two films share so many characters. For a full Multiverse Saga run, the marathon plan builds a schedule that keeps this one close to Avengers: Doomsday.
