Warning! This article contains spoilers for Thunderbolts*.
Thunderbolts* may have just made a huge MCU villain into an even bigger threat to the franchise"s heroes. For the first time in a while, the MCU has released a movie based predominantly in New York City. Although the story of Thunderbolts* takes its titular team to countries across the world, a large portion of the film is set on the east coast of the USA. For instance, the first half of the movie sees several members of Thunderbolts* cast settling down in Washington DC before they all come together and assemble as a team.
In the ending of Thunderbolts*, though, the story moves northeast as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine unveils a new MCU hero (and villain) at the new Avengers Tower for the team to fight. In setting the finale of Thunderbolts* in New York around Avengers Tower, Marvel Studios has tied the story closer to MCU stories of the past. Most Phase 4 and Phase 5 films have taken place across the multiverse, making Thunderbolts* a much more impactful film for the mainline MCU. Thanks to this setting and the close ties it holds to other MCU movies, Thunderbolts* may have made another villain even more dangerous.
Thunderbolts* Puts The People Of New York Through Another Superhero-Based Catastrophe The Void Was Unleashed In New York Firstly, it is worth exploring how Thunderbolts* and its story impacted New York before delving into how this could support an MCU villain"s agenda. In the third act of the film, Valentina unleashes Sentry/The Void on the Thunderbolts. Bob is part of Thunderbolts* story from the first act, yet only later is it revealed that he underwent a medical procedure to turn him into Sentry, an incredibly powerful being that eclipses all the Avengers of the past. Sentry even claims to be more powerful than Thor, leading to some neat Easter eggs and references to the MCU"s past.
Related Thunderbolts* 50 Marvel Easter Eggs & References Explained Marvel"s Thunderbolts* features an impressive collection of Easter eggs, references, and connections to both the comics and the greater MCU.
Posts Unbeknownst to Bob, Valentina, and the other scientists, however, the serum used to turn the former into Sentry also emboldened his trauma, depression, and deep-rooted wounds of his past. This created the equally powerful dark entity known as The Void, which began to turn New York into a pit of despair. The Void covered New York in darkness, forcing its citizens to relive their darkest memories and endlessly suffer through their own trauma, including the members of the Thunderbolts themselves.
The Events Of Thunderbolts* Set Up Kingpin To Have An Easier Time Making Anti-Vigilante Legislation & Laws In New York Kingpin Is Only Being Provided With More Ammunition After witnessing another New York-based catastrophe caused by superheroes, I am convinced that the MCU"s Kingpin can benefit from it. In Daredevil: Born Again season 1"s ending, Kingpin officially outlawed vigilantes in New York as mayor of the city. While the show made it clear that this was meant to impact smaller, street-level heroes like Daredevil, there is still a connection between this vein of hero and the likes of the Avengers, the Thunderbolts, and Sentry/The Void. Therefore, Kingpin could shrewdly use the situation to his advantage.
There is no denying that a super-powered being covering New York in perpetual darkness could help Wilson Fisk justify cracking down on smaller vigilantes...
If there was any push-back from other politicians or any higher-ups about his anti-vigilante laws, Kingpin need only point to what happened in Thunderbolts* to potentially get them on his side. There is no denying that a super-powered being covering New York in perpetual darkness could help Wilson Fisk justify cracking down on smaller vigilantes, lest they go on to do something similar. If so, Kingpin may just have become a lot more threatening than he already was.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Exploring How Thunderbolts* Affected Kingpin & Daredevil Would Be A Perfect Way To Tie The Stories Together Fixing The MCU's Recent Interconnectivity Problems Close If the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again season 2 was to address the events of Thunderbolts*, it would be a great way of tying two very different MCU projects together. The MCU"s Infinity Saga never truly had an issue with doing exactly this, yet none can deny that the Multiverse Saga has suffered with interconnectivity. Some projects have felt far too separate from others, others have been ignored completely, and the franchise felt like it did not have any sense of direction for a while.
Marvel"s 2025 movies are seemingly fixing that, be it Thunderbolts* post-credit scene that ties to both Captain America: Brave New World and The Fantastic Four: First Steps or Daredevil: Born Again"s teases that more MCU vigilantes will be involved in season 2. Despite being massively different stories in terms of scale and tone, Thunderbolts* and Daredevil: Born Again could be linked via The Void"s attack on New York in more ways than one. In doing so, the MCU would once again have a strong sense of interconnectivity that has been majoritively missing from Phases 4 and 5.
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Like Follow Followed Thunderbolts* PG-13 Adventure Action Sci-Fi 8/10 47 9.0/10 Release Date May 2, 2025 Runtime 126 Minutes Director Jake Schreier Writers Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Cast See All Florence Pugh Yelena Belova Sebastian Stan James Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
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