Continuing theMarvel Cinematic Universe’sThe Multiverse Saga and marking the final film in the franchise’s Phase Five, Thunderbolts* somehow manages to simultaneously be both an important piece to a larger puzzle and have a relatively grounded feel similar to the first Avengers movie. While the film does venture into the run-of-the-mill territory that is to be expected after so many comic book movies have been released, its ending and themes set it apart from anything that Marvel Studios has done cinematically in the past.

In addition to the unusual final confrontation, Thunderbolts* also features a mid-credits and a post-credits scene, the latter of which promises an exciting future for the MCU.

The members of the Thunderbolts on the film’s poster.

Major spoilers for Thunderbolts* below.

Thunderbolts* Ending Explained

The main catalyst behind the events that happen in Thunderbolts* isValentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the CIA director who spends the majority of the film’s runtime trying to clean up the mess she has created through her illegal superhuman experiments. This results in her creating the scenario that initially bringsthe titular team memberstogether, although their individualmissions involve them taking each other out, as they are all loose ends to Valentina’s crimes.

As Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) reach the facility they are supposed to destroy, with Ghost killing Taskmaster quite early in the film,they come across Bob Reynolds(Lewis Pullman), a seemingly regular man who has clearly been through a lot.

U.S. Agent, Bucky, Ghost, and Red Guardian in Thunderbolts*.

It is later revealed that Bob is actually the only survivor of Valentina’s off-the-books superhuman collaborationwith the O.X.E. Group called Sentry, which ended up giving him powers that help the Thunderbolts escape from the facility. However, while creating a diversion for the rest of the members, Bob is unable to properly control his powers, as hepasses out and is capturedby Valentina, who continues working on his superhuman side in the hopes of creating a new Avenger for the public.

When Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) finds out about Valentina’s activities and the illegal experiments that she did on people like Bob,he ends up joining the Thunderboltsto confront the CIA director and bring her to justice.

Lewis Pullman as the Void in Thunderbolts*.

Unfortunately, when the group gets to the Watchtower, previously known as the Avengers Tower, they see the results of Valentina’s experiments firsthand, as Bobis now known as the Sentry, a super-powered being who the Thunderbolts are no match for. Realizing just how strong he truly is and that he does not need to listen to anyone’s commands, Bob turns on Valentina,only to get hit by a kill switchthat the CIA director had in place just in case the Sentry goes out of control.

However, the kill switch quickly backfires as the Sentry’sextremely evil alter ego, the Void, gets unleashed as a result, as he starts to trap the entirety of New York City in a dark dimension where the people are forced to face their most dreaded memories and fears.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina in Thunderbolts*.

Now, this is where the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes a detour from the traditional final battles featured in the franchise so far, approaching the confrontation in an intriguing way that putsthe focus on the characters involvedand not just the action. Since the Void is way too strong for anyone on the Thunderbolts team to directly take on, a fight that would likely have a similar outcome even if the Avengers came to help,Yelena willingly goes into the dark dimensionto try and stop Bob from within.

As the Void’s dimension forces people to confront their worst nightmares, Yelena, who has had quite a troubled past as a Black Widow without any hope of living a normal life, overcomes her own fears before finding Bob’s consciousnesshiding in a version of his childhood bedroom.

David Harbour as Red Guardian in Thunderbolts*.

It is then revealed thatBob has severe depressiondue to everything he has been through in his life, ranging from having an abusive father to becoming a drug addict who kept traveling around the world to find his true purpose. During a trip to Malaysia, Bob came across O.X.E.’s Sentry project andvolunteered for the experiment, hoping that perhaps it could fix his addiction and change his life for the better.

The Void alter ego is basically a mixtureof Bob’s depression and the Sentry’s superhuman abilities, and since he was unable to get over his troubled past, he genuinely believed that he could help others by forcing them to face their most horrifying memories.

Ghost, Yelena, U.S. Agent, and Red Guardian in Thunderbolts*.

During Yelena’s trip into the dark dimension, the rest of the Thunderbolts also join her, but realizing that there is absolutely no way they can beat the Void, they opt to havea heartfelt conversation with Bobinstead. As someone who has felt worthless and aimless throughout his entire life, Bob finally gets to hear some much-neededwords that help him believein himself and find the self-worth that he has been looking for all this time.

The Thunderbolts assureBob that he is not alone, ensuring that each member of their own team has been through quite a lot themselves and is willing to stand by and support him against his issues from now on.

Yelena, who realizes that dealing with depression does not necessarily mean fighting it but letting the emotions out, tells Bob to embrace his thoughts instead of trying to lock them out, giving him the strength toovercome the Void and saving New York City, for now, in the process. But that is not all, as themain antagonist of Thunderbolts* is still leftto be dealt with even after the dramatic climatic confrontation with the Void.

Valentina, who faces her own worst memory through the Void about her father’s death, knows that the Thunderbolts will now come after her after saving the city, and as soon as they show up to capture her, shearranges a surprise press conferencethat catches them off guard.

Announcing to the public that creating a new team of superheroes that could save people when the Avengers are not available was always her goal, the CIA directorrebrands the Thunderbolts as the New Avengers. However, despite not being fully on board but still agreeing with the idea, Yelena lets Valentina know thatthey are the ones in control now, and she will pay if they face another betrayal.

That is when the Thunderbolts* logo appears on the screen,after which it gets ripped, revealing the new name for the team andexplaining the intriguing asterisk in the titleof the film.

Thunderbolts* Post-Credits Scenes Explained

Following the tradition that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has adopted for the majority of its films,Thunderbolts* features two post-credits scenes, one of which is simply a lighthearted moment, while the other sets up Phase Six of the franchise. In the mid-credits scene, Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), who had a heartfelt conversation with Yelena before the credits during which she finally addressed him as father,is seen standing in a grocery storeas a woman tries to choose a cereal. One of the cerealsfeatures the New Avengers on its boxes, as they are now certified heroes and celebrities, similar to how the merchandising for the original Avengers worked in the universe.

Upon seeing that, theRed Guardian starts to boastabout his new celebrity status to the woman, which feels well-earned considering that the character never really achieved the respect or popularity of someone like Captain America, despite going through the same initial superhuman procedure. However, it is the post-credits scene in Thunderbolts*,set 14 months after the events of the film, that lays the foundation for all the excitement that is about to come.

As the New Avengers, now with fresh costumes for each member, discuss operations at the Watchtower, Bucky reveals that Sam Wilson, who has taken up the mantle of Captain America, hasfiled for the copyrights to the Avengers namefor any team that he puts together in the future.

That results in yet another humorous moment featuring the Red Guardian, whosuggests the name New AvengerZto steer clear of any legal issues with Captain America. But what follows is the crux of the post-credits scene, as the team receives a signal from outer space, revealing thenumber 4 on an extradimensional spacecraft.

Of course, that logo belongs toMarvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four, who are set to start Phase Six of the MCU and make their collective franchise debut with yet another reboot called First Steps,making their way to the mainline universe from their retro parallel Earth, possibly to warn it of the incoming planet-eating threat of Galactus.

The post-credits scene in Thunderbolts* is the longest to be featured in an MCU film, running for 2 minutes and 54 seconds.

Which is howthe post-credits scene in Thunderbolts* sets up multiple important plot pointsfor the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranging from the various Avengers teams fighting over IP rights to being the gateway for some of the most essential characters to be featured in the comics.