Film guide · 2025
The parts that are hard to follow from the film alone, explained with a story summary, a character map and key terms.
Yelena, Natasha's sister from Black Widow and Hawkeye, is at the center.
John Walker from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp, Red Guardian from Black Widow and more.
Valentina, who's been recruiting behind the scenes across several titles, plays a big role.
What the * in the title means becomes clear at the end.
There are two extra scenes; the last points to what's next.
Who's who in Thunderbolts* (2025), with Yelena at the center. Around her are the misfits she meets in the trap; Valentina is on the right.
Because of copyright, we can't use stills, posters or any other images of the characters as they appear in the film. All face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors themselves (non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site; people without a photo are shown with initials).
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Yelena BelovaCenter ・ Florence PughFormer Black Widow
Alexei (Red Guardian)Main ・ David HarbourFormer Soviet super soldier
John Walker (U.S. Agent)Main ・ Wyatt RussellFormer Captain America
Ava (Ghost)Main ・ Hannah John-KamenCan phase
Bucky BarnesMain ・ Sebastian StanCongressman
BobMain ・ Lewis PullmanMystery man
ValentinaMain ・ Julia Louis-DreyfusCIA Director, head of OXE
TaskmasterSupporting ・ Olga KurylenkoValentina's agentFace photos are freely licensed photos of the actors from Wikimedia Commons, cropped to a square and resized. Non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site, and people without a photo are shown with a placeholder (initials).
Yelena keeps doing Valentina's dirty work.
Sent to a vault, Yelena and others realize they were set up to kill each other.
In the trap, they meet Bob, a man who barely remembers who he is.
The misfits break out together and uncover Valentina's plan.
Darkness spreads over New York, and the team steps up to save people.
Contains spoilers about the ending.
A man given immense power by Valentina's company. He becomes the radiant hero Sentry, but the darkness in his mind also takes shape as the terrifying Void.
Not with force. She goes into Bob's mind and refuses to leave him alone in his worst memories. The rest of the team joins her and holds him.
At the end, Valentina presents the team to the world as the New Avengers. The asterisk hinted at the name change.
Bucky is now a US congressman.
Alexei, Yelena's father figure, works as a limo driver.
Taskmaster from Black Widow is also in the trap.
Post-credits: 14 months later, a spaceship from another dimension (apparently the Fantastic Four's) appears in front of the team.