Small Details You Missed In Marvel's Thunderbolts*

Contains spoilers for "Thunderbolts*"

They aren't good guys, but they aren't quite bad guys, either. They're just the Thunderbolts, and even that name deserves a hefty asterisk next to it. Perhaps most importantly, they're the team that can get the Marvel Cinematic Universe back on track after a fairly spotty track record these last few years. The latest Marvel team-up has gone down well with critics, with Looper's review of "Thunderbolts*" praising the stellar performances and strong messages regarding mental health.

After years of seeing Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) lurking in the shadows, we finally see everyone she's recruited to carry out her dirty work. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) wants out of that life, but when Valentina gives her one final mission, she finds herself confronted with other villains turned government cronies, like U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). Alongside her makeshift father Red Guardian (David Harbour) and newly minted congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), they'll have to work together to bring down Valentina and figure out what precisely is going on with Bob (Lewis Pullman).

Ultimately, "Thunderbolts*" is a breath of fresh air for the MCU, but it's certainly a Marvel movie through and through. There are still a bunch of Easter eggs related to the comics and some big hints about what's to come in this franchise. Here are all the small details in "Thunderbolts*" that you might have missed.

Lewis Pullman's Bob becomes the hero known as Sentry in "Thunderbolts*," but he turns into the villain known as The Void. He's truly one of the most terrifying threats to ever enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he begins turning innocent New Yorkers into shadows on the ground once the film's climax kicks in. It's haunting imagery, and even more unsettling when you consider that director Jake Schreier told Collider that the disappearances "definitely came from images from Hiroshima and those kinds of shadows." What you may have missed is that the film foreshadows the Void's powers in the opening sequence.

After Yelena infiltrates an OXE Group lab, she gets into a hallway fight with the guards. It's reminiscent of that iconic hallway fight from "Oldboy" in that it's shot in a single take, but the framing helps set it apart. There's a single light source as the camera shoots the action overhead, so you mostly make out the guards' shadows as they approach Yelena to attack her. It looks great, but it's also an indicator of what's to come once The Void arrives.

Not only does this clever use of shadows hint that the Void is coming, but it also provides further insight into Yelena's mental state. We first see her on top of a building and hear an internal monologue of how she feels empty inside. She soon goes into the fight sequence, where it doesn't even look like she's beating up human beings, just their shadows. It's the shadows and the darkness coming for her, and from a metaphorical perspective, she has to learn how to beat the darkness as much as Bob does.

It's understandable if you initially misheard "OXE Group" as "Oscorp" while watching "Thunderbolts*," given the similar-sounding name and the fact that Norman Osborn was a member of the Thunderbolts in the comics, one of many who got cut for the MCU. The OXE Group is Valentina's insidious organization. She is undergoing impeachment proceedings for her nefarious affiliation with the company, and she sends the Thunderbolts to cover up her crimes, including human experimentation on Bob. 

The OXE Group was first mentioned in 2011's "Ultimate Fallout" #3 from Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer, Steve Kurth, Eric Nguyen, and Carlo Pagulayan. Granted, that issue takes place in the Earth-1610 universe as opposed to the main timeline in Earth-616, but Valentina was still the founder of the organization in that reality. O.X.E. (now with periods between the letters and minus the "Group") would later show up in Earth-616 in "Thunderbolts" Vol. 5 #1 from Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Geraldo Borges.

"Thunderbolts" Vol. 5 #1 was released in December 2023, with a cover date of January 2024. In this world, the group's founded by a Life Model Decoy of Valentina, and Bucky Barnes goes to her to help him form a new Thunderbolts outfit that's probably the closest to the iteration of the group we get in the movie. Bucky's team in the comics features Yelena, Red Guardian, and U.S. Agent, so a certain amount of inspiration seems to have taken place. No matter which way you slice it, this company is bad news: The OXE Group/O.X.E. and Valentina get up to no good no matter what universe they're in. 

"On your left" has become something of an unofficial catchphrase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) said it to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he repeatedly ran past him at the start of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." It's easily the funniest moment of that particular MCU movie. Sam returns the favor by telling Steve he's on his left as he flies through the portal in "Avengers: Endgame." As such, it seems appropriate (or inappropriate, depending on your viewpoint) that the bastardized Captain America — John Walker, aka U.S. Agent — says it as well in "Thunderbolts*."

Walker, Yelena, Ghost, and Taskmaster all find themselves trapped in OXE's vault. Bob joins the party, Taskmaster gets shot in the head, and the remaining players need to find a way out before the incinerator kicks in. There's a sonic device preventing Ghost from phasing through the wall, which would allow her to save everyone else. They need to destroy the device's power source, and Walker decides the best course is to simply bash it in. He asks Yelena to move out of the way by saying, "On your left." 

Walker is a veteran, just like Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. It's possible he picked up the same lingo as them while in the Armed Forces if he's not intentionally mimicking Rogers here. Either way, it's a fun little nod that you might have missed in the heat of the moment.

After Yelena, U.S. Agent, and Ghost get out of the vault, they're picked up by Red Guardian in the middle of the desert, who overheard Valentina's plan to kill them all after driving her following a gala. While driving, they get some unwanted visitors, with OXE cronies trying to shoot them down. Fortunately, Bucky's also hot on their trail and he takes out their assailants. But the whole sequence feels a little bit like déjà vu if you've watched Marvel's "What If...?"

Season 3 contains an episode called "What If... The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?" In it, Red Guardian prevents Bucky from killing the Starks, and the two later join forces so that they can meet up with the Rook to get back to Russia. Part of this journey involves driving through the desert where they have to evade capture from Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne). Visually, the "Thunderbolts*" scene looks similar, with Red Guardian behind the wheel in both instances. The main difference is that Bucky isn't in the car with him, so we miss out on fun banter between the two. One might even say Red Guardian driving through an American desert is a canon event.

For years, Marvel fans have speculated about who purchased Avengers Tower once the team became defunct. Theories ranged from the Fantastic Four to Wilson Fisk, but "Thunderbolts*" reveals that it's now under the ownership of Valentina. Upon acquiring Bob after seeing his powers in action, Valentina goes straight there to set up a press conference, and she refers to the building by its new name — the Watchtower. This is appropriate given that it's also the name of Sentry's headquarters in the comics.

His base contains a powerful artificial intelligence called the Centrally Located Organic Computer (or CLOC) that would alert the hero to any global emergencies. However, after Sentry makes the world forget who he is, the populace also forgets about the tower. It's still there, but no one can see it, which makes it amusing when Tony Stark builds a tower of his own to serve as the base for the New Avengers on the same block of land. When Sentry reappears to the world, the Watchtower also returns — and it's now on top of the new Stark Tower. 

In "Thunderbolts*," the Watchtower also serves as Sentry's base, as it's where Valentina wants to introduce him to the world as its new protector. And with the Thunderbolts getting dubbed the New Avengers by the end of the film, the building becomes both a base for them and Sentry, just like the bizarre Stark Tower/Watchtower creation.

Throughout "Thunderbolts*," Valentina gets plenty of assistance from Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), who wavers in her loyalty. It's clear she has reservations about what Valentina's doing, but she's also the one that flips the kill switch to try and take out Sentry. This juxtaposition between her good and bad side would make her a perfect fit for the Thunderbolts team — and there's a hint she could join the team in the future. 

If you look carefully, you may notice Mel wearing a round necklace with a bird in the middle. We don't know Mel's last name, but it's possible she's actually Melissa Gold, who's gone by the alias of Songbird in Marvel Comics. She also took on the moniker of Screaming Mimi for a time when she was part of the Masters of Evil. She eventually went legit, and she's been part of the Thunderbolts on several occasions. She's sometimes evil and sometimes good, but she's a powerful entity either way, with augmented vocal cords to deliver sonic-based attacks. 

Songbird was part of the very first iteration of the Thunderbolts led by Baron Zemo, who was secretly using the guise of a heroic team to make the world trust him so that he could carry out evil plans later. Songbird, as well as some other members of the team, liked being viewed as heroes, so they rebelled against Zemo. Mel gets a similar arc in "Thunderbolts*" where she rebels against Valentina, but she does seem to be back on her good side by the film's end. 

For fans, it might've felt good at first to see Avengers Tower again. It's such an iconic location, and hopefully, it continues playing a role in the upcoming "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." The only problem is that the tower takes on a far more sinister connotation when seeing Valentina copy Tony Stark's action in "The Avengers." 

In that film, Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) pours himself a drink while speaking to Loki (Tom Hiddleston). It showcases Tony's cool, calm demeanor and gets the audience thinking everything's going to work out despite the odds. But that feeling is reversed seeing Valentina do the same thing. She hangs out behind the bar as the Thunderbolts confront her, and she pours herself a drink while making it known she's not afraid of them because she has Sentry in her corner. 

In both instances, you have characters who are face-to-face with much more powerful adversaries, but the former is someone we want to succeed and the latter is someone we just want thrown behind bars. It's a fascinating reversal that really drives home the point that the Avengers are gone, and in their absence, evil has been allowed to take root.

Sentry is basically Marvel's version of Superman, only his Kryptonite is his own negative thoughts. He's all-powerful, as we see when the Thunderbolts try to fight him in the Watchtower. They're no match against him, as he can send any of them flying, and when they do manage to land a hit, it doesn't hurt him in the slightest. It's appropriate that both Valentina and Bob refer to the Sentry persona as "invincible," but that word couldn't help but make us think of the character's original casting.

Steven Yeun was originally cast as Sentry, but he exited the movie following the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike when shooting schedules got pushed back and rearranged. Yeun likely isn't hurting too badly after the missed opportunity, as he's still the voice of another superhero — the titular character of Amazon's critically acclaimed animated show "Invincible," adapted by Robert Kirkman from his comic of the same name.

Given the sheer number of times "invincible" is said in "Thunderbolts*," we can't help but wonder if that was meant as a nod to Yeun's casting, and the writers either didn't change it following the recast or they still wanted to give Yeun a little shoutout. We could be reading into it too much — Sentry is literally invincible, after all — but it's still a cool little detail and maybe it'll encourage more viewers to debate over who would win in a Sentry vs. Invincible showdown.

One of the most confounding aspects of "Thunderbolts*" is in the title itself. Fans have speculated why the title has an asterisk at the very end, with one theory being that it represents the six members of the team or perhaps six bullets converging. The film itself even plays around with the imagery of the asterisk. When Yelena, Bob, Ghost, and U.S. Agent are climbing their way out of the elevator shaft back-to-back with their feet giving them balance against the wall, they kind of look like an asterisk themselves. 

In actuality, the name Thunderbolts in the film stems from Yelena's old soccer team, also called the Thunderbolts. Yelena brings it up to make fun of John Walker citing his high school football career as to why he's a good leader, and Red Guardian is more than happy to make the name stick. It's a pretty silly origin, but honestly, it's about as random as the origin of the name in the comic books. Baron Zemo comes up with the name, telling the team that it's inspired by a line from 17th century poet Thomas Randolph: "Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men's ruin, but to all men's fear. Our hope is that we can be that lightning — that justice." Randolph reportedly never actually said this, but that's besides the point.

However, the big surprise at the film's end is that this team isn't the Thunderbolts at all, hence the asterisk. Valentina introduces them to the press as the New Avengers, and the closing title sequence sees the "Thunderbolts*" logo vanishing to make room for "The New Avengers."

In order to get to that final post-credits scene that has some multiverse-shattering ramifications, you need to get through some lengthy credits. If you look carefully under Special Thanks, you'll find Jon Watts listed. You may think you know why he's there. After all, he's the director of Tom Holland's three existing "Spider-Man" movies, so he's been in the Marvel gang for a while. Maybe you think he gave director Jake Schreier some pointers on how to make a big-budget superhero movie, but the pair actually have a connection that goes further back than the MCU. 

"Jon Watts was my roommate from college and we're good friends," Schreier told Collider. "And I even did second unit on the L.A. portion of one of the 'Spider-Man' movies, so having a little bit more kind of connection or insight into that world." Schreier also directed the episode "You Have a Lot to Learn About Pirates" for the "Star Wars" series "Skeleton Crew," which Watts co-created. While most people probably only remember their college roommates for never washing their bed sheets, this arrangement has led to a fruitful creative partnership. How many people can say that?