“Thunderbolts*” director says post-credits scene was shot for “Avengers: Doomsday”

This story contains spoilers for Thunderbolts*.

Thunderbolts* didn’t just change names — it also changed movies entirely in a post-credits scene.

After Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) publicly renamed the team of dysfunctional antiheroes and villains the “New Avengers,” the two credits scenes jumped ahead in time to reveal how they’ve been handling their newfound fame and responsibilities as forward-facing heroes. And director Jake Schreier tells Entertainment Weekly that the second scene, which sees Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), U.S. Agent/John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Bob/Sentry/Void (Lewis Pullman) watching as the Fantastic Four ship races towards their Earth, was actually filmed for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

When EW asks the director if the second credits scene means the New Avengers will be the first to meet Marvel’s First Family, he admits he wasn’t privy to that information. “You know as much as I know about that,” Schreier says. “I mean, I was there, but I didn’t direct that scene. That comes from the set of a movie that is officially beginning production on Monday.”

The director reveals that the scene, which also features the New Avengers arguing in the Watchtower, was only filmed about a month ago. “I was very happy to be there and lucky to be there,” Schreier adds. “It was so fun to see your characters go off into this bigger context. We’ve been living in our own contained world, but it was really fun to see them there.”

Each of the characters has a new superhero suit in the scene — aside from Bob, who is still rocking civilian clothes — and Schreier is wary of commenting on whether those looks are their official Avengers: Doomsday costumes.

“I don’t know if I’m going to get shot by a sniper,” the director jokes. “That is a scene from [Doomsday], so in theory [yes]. Now, things can change, as they do in the Marvel world, but as currently constituted, you were watching a small hint of that film.”

Below, EW breaks down that Thunderbolts* (er, New Avengers?) ending and how both end-credits scenes impact the future of the MCU.

Red Guardian’s dream comes true

After the credits literally rip to rename the movie New Avengers, a short, hilarious mid-credits scene reveals that Alexei finally gets his dream: he, along with the rest of the team, is on the front of a Wheaties box. And the honor seems to have gone straight to his already-inflated ego (shocker), since he’s clearly been hanging out in a grocery store aisle to bask in the glory.

When the scene opens, some time has passed, and Alexei has cleaned himself up. He’s shaved off his long beard and is wearing civilian clothes, appearing to be only slightly more adjusted to normal life. He tries to make small talk with another shopper while standing next to the New Avengers-branded Wheaties cereal boxes on the shelf. After several attempts to talk up the box with his face on it, the shopper begrudgingly takes it, hoping he will leave her alone. He watches her walk away in satisfaction, only to see her immediately drop the box back on the shelf when she’s a safe distance away. Hey, you can’t win them all.

New allies… and a shocking new enemy

The following post-credits sequence, which Schreier teased as being shot for Avengers: Doomsday, offers a much more surprising glimpse into the future of the MCU. Fourteen months later, the New Avengers convene in the Watchtower, showing off brand-new looks — updated superhero suits, different hairstyles, and a much more confident energy.

It’s clear that they’ve been operating as a team for a while, but there are still some growing pains. They’re bickering with each other, of course, but now they’re facing a new, more irritating, and altogether more surprising threat: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a.k.a. Captain America, disapproves of their new title — and he’s taking legal measures against it.

“We are the New Avengers, the government said so,” Yelena tells Bucky. “How does Sam Wilson not understand that?”

“Well, he does have the shield,” Bucky reminds her.

“I’ve got a shield too,” John tries to argue before Bucky shuts him down. While they argue over whether his shield is “s—ty,” Yelena brings them back to the real problem at hand by asking, “If he puts together a team, and then the team is called the Avengers, then who are the real Avengers?”

According to John, that’s exactly the question that the internet has been asking. “And judging by the very nasty memes that I’ve read, they don’t think that it’s us,” he adds.

Yelena asks Bucky if he’ll talk to Sam about the New Avengers vs. Avengers feud that’s brewing, seeing as how they were both Steve’s BFFs. “I already did,” he says with a forlorn look on his face. “It went poorly.”

Yelena then reveals to the team that Sam has already filed for the copyright of the Avengers name. “We’re losing credibility,” she says, while Ghost quips that they didn’t have much to begin with. “And now there’s a huge space crisis and no one’s telling us about it.”

John gets confused, thinking that Yelena means there’s no more space in the Watchtower despite its extreme size. “Outer space!” Yelena yells in disbelief. She then fires up the computers to run a threat analysis on whatever is heading their way, just as Alexei joins the party wearing a tacky, branded racing uniform that John immediately questions.

“I heard about Sam Wilson. He is dumb, litigious man,” Alexei says. “But I am smart man, and I have smart solve.” He then gestures to the words “New Avengerz” on his uniform. “With the ‘z,’ there is no copyright.” As Yelena and the rest of the team roll their eyes, he reveals that he got one for everyone, including Bob, who’s been in the corner reading a book. “We’re all matching, all part of super team!”

But then an alarm blares, and Bucky reminds Yelena to pull up a satellite image and fire up the jets. “We wouldn’t need to fire up the jets if we had a Sentry who could fly,” Alexei grumbles.

Bob apologizes from the corner. “Can’t be the Sentry without the, you know, other side…” he trails off before proudly adding, “I did the dishes though!”

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Another alert chimes, this time announcing that an “extra-dimensional ship” has entered Earth’s atmosphere. “Extra-dimensional? What does that mean?” Alexei asks, and Yelena pulls up satellite imagery of the ship racing through space. As the New Avengers gather around the screen, the Fantastic Four score begins to play, and the ship rotates to reveal a giant blue “4” on its side. Marvel’s first family has arrived!

But is this before or after the events of The Fantastic Four: First Steps? And are Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) arriving to help this Earth or escape the destruction of their own if things don’t go well in their debut movie?

The scene ends with a simple promise: “The New Avengers and Bob will return,” which we know will happen in Avengers: Doomsday, slated for a May 1, 2026, release. But before that, we’ll meet the First Family when The Fantastic Four: First Steps flies into theaters on July 25. In the meantime, Thunderbolts* (a.k.a. New Avengers) is now playing in theaters.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly