Thunderbolts makes big change to the asterisk and fans are convinced this character will die

Marvel made a change to the asterisk in the new Thunderbolts* movie trailer, sparking a theory that a major character will die.

Described as the MCU’s answer to the Suicide Squad, Thunderbolts follows a ragtag group of anti-heroes, led by Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), as they’re sent on a high-risk government mission. 

Alongside the Winter Solder, the gang includes Florence Pugh’s Black Widow, Wyatt Russell’s US Agent, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster.

Now, you may have noticed that there are six members of the upcoming Marvel movie, which makes this subtle detail in the title rather interesting. 

Thunderbolts asterisk change sparks Taskmaster death theory

The asterisk (*) symbol shown at the end of the latest trailer has five points rather than six, and this has sparked the theory that one of the Thunderbolts will die in the new movie.

The leading theory is it will be Taskmaster who bites the dust. As the least developed of the group, she’s had relatively little character development in the MCU since her debut in Black Widow, and she’s remained largely on the sidelines in the broader franchise.

Now, let it be known that a five-point asterisk is used in all of the written titles. However, in the poster, it’s shown to have six – one for each member. But right at the end of the trailer, a five-point version is shown instead.

Was this just a meaningless image or a little nod to the fact that one of them won’t make it out alive? Many fans think it’s the latter, with one writing, “In the older font, the asterisk had six lines, now it has five. Taskmaster is cooked.”

“Not a great looking time for MCU Taskmaster fans,” said another on Reddit, while a third added on X/Twitter, “We know Taskmaster is going to die. We get it, oh my God.”

A fourth chimed in, “With every trailer we get more footage of Void and less of Taskmaster. I get fans criticized the hell out of the character, but damn Disney is really about to just Old Yeller the character.”

What does the asterisk mean in Thunderbolts?

Marvel Studios

Of course, this is all just speculation at this stage. As for what Marvel has said about Thunderbolts’ asterisk, an official poster pointed to the words, “The Avengers Are Not Available.”

An asterisk is typically used in writing to indicate a footnote, so in this case it refers to a quippy comment about the Avengers not being on hand, and so they had to call in the Thunderbolts instead. 

However, there certainly could be more to it than meets the eye. At ComicCon 2024, Marvel boss Kevin Feige said there is a deeper meaning behind it – but he’s not going to reveal it until after the new movie’s out.

“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,” he said. 

Could this mean Taskmaster’s on the chopping block? We’ll have to wait to find out, with Thunderbolts dropping in cinemas on May 2, 2025.

Until then, check out our ranking of the best superhero movies, every MCU movie, and read everything we know about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.