The MCU looked to be at its lowest ever ebb earlier this year following the poorly received release of Captain America: Brave New World in February, but since then there have been a number of promising signs that the hugely popular and influential franchise could be on the way back.
The dramatic – if a little stretched out – reveal of the cast for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday caused a great deal of excitement among fans back in March, while trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps have also been well received so far.
And now, there's the release of new film Thunderbolts*, which has been met with overwhelmingly positive verdicts and been hailed as a welcome return to form for Marvel ahead of its arrival in cinemas around the world today (Thursday 1st May).
As well as serving as an emotional and thoughtful self-contained film in its own right, the movie is also vital in terms of the repercussions it has for the future of the franchise as a whole – setting up a number of things which look set to play a major role going forwards.
Seen the movie and need a recap of what the film's ending – and crucially its post-credits scene – means for the MCU's future? Read on for everything you need to know.
What happens at the end of Thunderbolts*? Full spoilers
The bulk of the film is focused on the – somewhat forced – alliance that develops between the ragtag titular group of anti-heroes that forms after CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) sets them on each other in what she hopes will be a deadly meeting.
While one unfortunate antihero does die almost instantly in the form of Olga Kurylenko's Taskmaster, the rest of the gang end up banding together, especially after they meet an unusual character by the name of Bob aka The Sentry aka The Void.
They are also later joined by Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, who reluctantly teams up with them after learning about Valentina's plans for Bob – who she has trained as a superhuman.
Anyway, the major confrontation at the end of the film comes after Bob finds himself locked in his The Void persona and rather terrifyingly turns everyone in his vicinity into dark shadows.
This is a force that won't be able to be fought in the usual Marvel way, with superpowers and weapons, but instead by reaching Bob's mind.
And so Yelena (Florence Pugh) does just that, fighting through flashes of her own previous traumas to find Bob in the shadow dimension – where, after becoming briefly incapacitated by The Void, she has a heart-to-heart with him, reminding him that with her and the rest of the Thunderbolts, he is not alone.
These words prove extraordinarily powerful, and The Void appears to be defeated for now – with Bob returning to normal but claiming to have no memory of anything that has just happened.
Meanwhile, Valentina weaponises the heroism of Yelena and the Thunderbolts for her own ends – staging a press conference and declaring that she has deliberately formed this new superhero team which will henceforth be known as the New Avengers, boosting her own popularity as a result.
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There are actually two post-credits scenes, although the first is merely a joke with little bearing on the plot – showing Alexei Shostakov in a supermarket and enjoying the fact that some cereal boxes have been branded with him and his fellow Thunderbolts.
The second is more important for the future of the franchise. It sees the team spending time at Avengers HQ 14 months later, where Bucky explains that they could be in trouble based on the fact that Sam Wilson aka Captain America (Anthony Mackie) has been hoping to set up his own team of Avengers, and their new team could be seen as a threat to him – with Sam even attempting to copyright the Avengers name.
But then something even more significant happens: they receive a distress signal from space, and we get a clear view of a massive spacecraft on which is branded the number 4.
It is, of course, the arrival of The Fantastic Four – whose own film will arrive in cinemas this summer...
How does Thunderbolts* set up the future of the MCU?
With this film marking the final entry in Marvel's extremely spotty Phase 5, the stage has now been firmly set for Phase 6 – and it's safe to say that lots of building blocks are in place.
For one thing, Valentina continues to have a rather tenuous grip on power despite her desperate efforts to reclaim the heroics of the Thunderbolts as her doing, and this storyline seems destined to play a part going forward.
Then there's the prospect of Bob, who may have been able to tame The Void for now but who seems likely to have further battles to face in his future.
But perhaps most importantly is that it looks like we're going to end up with three different superhero teams: Sam Wilson's Avengers, The Thunderbolts* aka The New Avengers, and shortly The Fantastic Four. And that's before we even get to the arrival of the X-Men in the MCU in due course.
There's no reason to suspect that the Fantastic 4 and the New Avengers can't work together, but throw in Sam Wilson's rival Avengers team and things could be about to get messy. We'll find out in Phase 6...
Thunderbolts* is now showing in UK cinemas.
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