Tag Archives: Thunderbolts

Jul 20 2025

The Eve of MCU’s Phase Six

Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) starts this week with the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a film that will begin the finale of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. As Phase Six commences it is clear that the MCU has had some challenges recently and it remains to be seen if the latest phase will course correct the cinematic universe.

A major issue with the last two phases that will affect Phase Six was that they did not tell a cohesive or coherent storyline that progressed the overall story of the Multiverse Saga. This ran counter to the first three phases that told a progressive story that culminated with the last two Avengers films, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. One thing to note with the first three phases was that they concluded more or less with an epic Avengers film. This did not happen with Phase Four (*Thunderbolts the last film of Phase Five ended with the revelation that it was actually a film about a new team of Avengers), and the Multiverse Saga had to do a course correct for outside reasons.

Phase Five of the MCU was plagued with several misfires and undeniable box office disappointments as films and TV shows did not live up to expectations. This was unfortunate since Phase Four was disappointing, as well, and failed to live up to the glory days of the first three phases. Phase Five was supposed to correct this but could not.

Namely that Marvel Studios decided to eliminate the main villain of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror, and instead abruptly chose to have Doctor Doom as the main villain. This change happened because the actor who played Kang, Jonathan Majors, was fired by Marvel Studios for being convicted of domestic abuse and the character did not resonate with fans. This happened as Phase Five was well underway and did not allow the MCU to organically pivot to Doctor Doom, but the film studio could have tried. Films and TV shows in the latter half of Phase Five should have, at the bare minimum, dropped Easter eggs and references to Doctor Doom but that has not happened. In fact, many TV shows from Phase Six like Secret Invasion or Agatha All Along did nothing to advance the Mulitverse Saga. Meanwhile, only about half of the Phase Five films were relevant to the Multiverse Saga.

What makes this situation worse is that Doctor Doom, the main villain of the Fantastic Four, will not appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This is a mistake considering that Doom will be the villain of next year’s Avengers: Doomsday and it is unlikely that upcoming MCU projects before that film will include any appearances or references to Doctor Doom and the Multiverse Saga. It is head scratching that Doctor Doom will not at least have a cameo in The Fantastic Four: First Steps but we won’t know this for sure until the film is released. On the other hand, there are reports that one of the post-credits scene from The Fantastic Four: First Steps will directly tie into Avengers: Doomsday so there is that, at least.

Another thing that is evident with the slate of Phase Six is that unlike the last two phases there will be noticeably less films and TV shows released. One major complaint about the last two phases, especially with Phase Four, was that too many projects were released, and this stretched the resources of Marvel Studios. The result was that many subpar films and TV shows were released before they could be fine tuned to be better. With Phase Six, Marvel Studios has chosen to emphasize quality over quantity, though this means that many threads and characters introduced in the previous phases will be ignored. This will frustrate many fans, but it was inevitable given that Marvel Studios has to concentrate on popular characters instead of greenlighting TV shows or films about obscure superheroes that may or may not resonate with the larger public. So, expect many films and TV shows dealing with the core Avengers lineup, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four (if the first film is successful) and of course, the mutants.

At this time, we can only speculate on what films and TV shows Marvel Studios will release for Phase Six. Unlike the previous phases the studio is remaining tight lipped about its upcoming releases since they have been burned by prematurely announcing projects before they were ready like Blade. To date, the only known projects are The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, Wonder Man, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, second seasons for Daredevil: Born Again and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Vision Quest, a Punisher TV special, Avengers: Doomsday, Avengers: Secret Wars, and at least one other film that we have no information about. Who knows what it will be? A new Doctor Strange film? A third Black Panther film?

While it’s regrettable that Marvel Studios is pulling back on the quantity of projects it is for the best since the limited amount of films and TV shows will lead to improved products. We already are seeing this as the more recent offerings from Marvel Studios like Deadpool and Wolverine, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and *Thunderbolts have received a lot of acclaim. It is also interesting to see that certain projects that were not as well received as Ironheart, parts of Daredevil: Born Again and Captain America: Brave New World were produced before Marvel Studios began to course correct with its offerings. Daredevil: Born Again offers clear proof of this as the most acclaimed episodes were made after the film studio decided to emphasize its commitment to quality.

It will take some time for Marvel Studios’ course corrections to resonate with the general public. Not too long ago, the MCU brand was golden and a guarantee of quality and box office success. That’s not the situation anymore as many recent films have underperformed, even if they were acclaimed like *Thunderbolts. It is no longer a guarantee that an MCU film will be a box office hit. But it is important that they maintain a high level of quality because this will create positive buzz for MCU films and TV shows. Do not be surprised if properties like *Thunderbolts develop cult followings, which is good for Marvel Studios as this will demonstrate the studio’s commitment to quality products. Eventually the public will catch on and begin seeing them the films and TV shows in droves again. Then again with important tentpole films like Avengers: Doomsday, Avengers: Secret Wars and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it is practically certain that Phase Six of the MCU will be successful.

José Soto

May 11 2025

Meet The Thunderbolts*…Er, The New Avengers!

By now, most fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are aware of how the latest MCU film, Thunderbolts* ended, including its post-credits scene. Anyone who hasn’t at this time should stop reading this because we’re going into full on SPOILERS for Thunderbolts* and what is next for the MCU, including next year’s Avengers: Doomsday.

Introducing the New Avengers

To no one’s real surprise, the asterisk in the film title Thunderbolts* was an indication that the title team of dysfunctional mercenaries with personal demons, stood for something else. For most of the film, the team’s comic relief, Alexi Shostakov, the Red Guardian, kept referring to the team as the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts, after the soccer team his adopted daughter, Yelena Belova, played in as a child. By the end of the film, after the Thunderbolts saved New York City, they were introduced to the world as the New Avengers by the film’s antagonist, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, in a move to save her political career and to stay out of prison.

Speculation had been going on among fans ever since the film title included the asterisk. Some thought maybe it was a placeholder for a subtitle that would be spoilery. They were right to an extent because the asterisk was actually a placeholder for the film’s supposed real title, The New Avengers, which Marvel Studios began to openly flaunt just a few days after the film’s release.

Was the supposed title change to The New Avengers a desperate marketing attempt to drum up more interest in Thunderbolts*? Maybe. Then again, the marketing has been incredibly inventive for the film with innovative posters and some trailers that made the film out to be something that A24 would release. In any event, the fact that the Thunderbolts are actually the New Avengers does increase their profile and hints at what lies ahead for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

In the film’s two post-credits scenes and the montage shown during the initial credits, the so-called New Avengers are not well received by the world. Who could blame them? Just as how many of us complained about the lackluster lineup of the Thunderbolts when the film was announced, it was natural that most people would have a negative reaction to the replacement for the original Avengers. Where were the heavy hitters like Hulk or Thor? The New Avengers was made up of a bunch of mercenaries/super soldiers with similar and limited skill and power sets. As Yelena quipped at one point, “we just punch and shoot.” Then add in their questionable pasts, which probably could not be glossed over by marketing; although the original Avengers team members also had checkered backgrounds, including Yelena’s sister, Natasha Romanov, a fellow assassin.

But unknown to most of the world, deep down, these characters had heart and faced down their insecurities and flaws, which made them more endearing to audiences. Each of the Thunderbolts wanted a chance at redemption and to be part of something greater. This was obvious with Alexi who dreamed of recapturing the glory he had during the Cold War in Russia, Yelena dealing with depression and wanting something else in her life, or John Walker, who couldn’t fill in the shoes of Captain America as seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and wanted to prove himself. They just didn’t expect it to be as the lineup for the new incarnation of the Avengers.

Sure, these Thunderbolts were not superstars like Tony Stark, but they grew on us as they created a sort of family bond forged by the events they underwent together. What made the film so quickly beloved was that these characters were deeply flawed, yet had great chemistry, which helped them succeed in the end as they came together as a team. How they will carry on going forward is anyone’s guess, but we can speculate based on the final post-credits scene.

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May 2 2025

Thunderbolts* Proves The MCU Is Still Great

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has taken its lumps in recent years thanks to some films and TV shows that failed to capture the excitement and emotions of the early MCU films. The 36th and latest MCU film, Thunderbolts*, on the other hand, proves that the MCU can still put out great films.

Thunderbolts*, which was released this weekend, re-introduces us to many D-List MCU characters that appeared in other MCU films, and now they get their opportunity to shine in the film’s spotlight. Even though the film is an ensemble piece, the main character is Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), the sister of Black Widow and is bored with her existence as a mercenary carrying out questionable jobs for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia-Louis Dreyfus). There will be some spoilers for the film.

After asking de Fontaine for a change of pace, Yelena is sent on a covert op to kill another mercenary, Ava Starr aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who was last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp, at a remote desert laboratory. Once there the two women are targeted by John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as U.S. Agent, and Antonia Dreykov aka Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). It turns out that de Fontaine sent all four mercs to kill each other because she is getting rid of all evidence of her involvement with the shady O.X.E Group. After an obligatory introductory and thrilling battle that leaves Taskmaster dead, the remaining trio meet Bob (Lewis Pullman), a seemingly ordinary fellow who somehow woke up in the lab.

The three mercenaries manage to escape the lab and are joined by Yelena’s adopted father, Alexei Shostakov, the supposedly famous Red Guardian (David Harbour), a Russian knock-off of Captain America. Later on, they are forcibly recruited by James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan), once the infamous Winter Soldier and now a U.S. Congressman, to testify in Congress against de Fontaine, who is being impeached. What none of them realize is that there is a lot more to Bob, who is revealed to have been the test subject of the O.X.E Group to create the ultimate superhero. But no one took into account Bob’s fragile emotional state and how that will come to severely impact Bob and the world after his superpowers have manifested.

There are many reasons why Thunderbolts* works so well. Let’s start with the cast. Every actor featured is on point and more importantly have great chemistry with one another. They are able to convey that they are broken, dysfunctional people that clash with one another, often humorously, and are yet able to come together. As great as the actors were, Florence Pugh is the obvious star in the film and its emotional center. She best exemplifies how emotionally broken the Thunderbolts and Bob are and how they strive to better themselves. The other actors turn in solid work such as Stan, who plays the straight man to the dysfunctional group, and Wyatt Russell adds some much needed depth and sympathy to his character. He no longer comes off as a poor man’s Captain America. However, David Harbour steals many scenes with his boisterous Alexei, who is all too eager to prove himself as a superhero and to bask in the glory of being one. Many of his funny lines are well delivered and add some needed levity to the film before it wallows too much into examining psyches.

Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbolts* focus is on its characters and this works. It makes us understand them better and see how much nuance and depth they have. This also makes us care about them, a lot more than expected. Unfortunately, not every character gets in depth looks into their personalities, but that probably would have made for a very long film. Besides, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier gave us plenty of insight into Bucky and how he recovered emotionally from his ordeal as the Winter Soldier. The film takes time to explore how emotionally vulnerable the Thunderbolts are as they battle their own inner demons, especially depression. This adds so much weight and levity to them and makes the film stand out from the typical superhero movie.

Before anyone thinks that Thunderbolts* is some kind of pretentious Oscar bait brimming with character studies, the film has some of the MCU’s most exciting action scenes. Probably the best one featured a one-sided battle between the Thunderbolts and an insanely OP Bob, who becomes the Sentry, Marvel’s emotionally unstable version of Superman. The Sentry and his dark alter ego known as the Void were both impressive and terrifying. The way the Void was shown as an ominously dark silhouette was very creepy and hammered home the vulnerabilities of the Thunderbolts. Again and again they and we kept asking how a bunch of mercs and wannabe heroes, who could only shoot and punch, fight someone so powerful? Of course, it could not be done through physical combat and the method used to confront the Sentry is a welcome change when it comes to third act confrontations in superhero films. No blinding shafts of light going up into the sky will be found in Thunderbolts*, instead we get introspective character development. That is why this film works so well.

Anyone wavering about whether or not to see Thunderbolts* should consider that while it is a welcome change when it comes to superhero films, it is actually important to the MCU as it closes out Phase Five of the MCU, unlike more recent films and TV shows. So, be sure to stick around for the post-credits scenes. Not only is the final scene one of the longest post-credits scenes in the MCU, but like in the older classic MCU films, the scene helps advance the larger event going on with the MCU.

José Soto

Mar 28 2025

Avengers: Doomsday Announcement IOW Avengers Vs. X-Men!

On March 26, 2025, Marvel Studios painstakingly announced the cast of next year’s Avengers: Doomsday with an online stream that lasted over FIVE hours. The marketing team behind this event can be either commended for increasing anticipation and publicity for Avengers: Doomsday or slammed for coming up with this idea of using chairs to slowly announce cast members and stretching this out for several long hours.

Many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) woke up that day with news that Marvel Studios was making a big announcement later in the morning. They speculated about what would the news be about. More MCU films announced? The cast for the new X-Men? At first, when the stream began and an obscure figure entered the screen and placed a chair with Chris Hemsworth’s name on it, people guessed it may have been a revelation that a new Thor film was coming. Then 12 and a half minutes later, another chair was revealed with Vanessa Kirby’s name on it, and we all knew by then the announcement was about the cast for Avengers: Doomsday. It was inevitable since the film was scheduled to begin filming around this time and the finale of the stream declared just that. These were the following cast members announced for Avengers: Doomsday in the order they were announced:

  • Chris Hemsworth as Thor
  • Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman
  • Anthony Mackie as Captain America
  • Sebastian Stan as Bucky/Winter Soldier
  • Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther
  • Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
  • Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent aka dime store Captain America
  • Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing
  • Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
  • Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
  • Kelsey Grammer as the Beast
  • Lewis Pullman as the Sentry
  • Danny Ramirez as the Falcon
  • Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch
  • David Harbour as Red Guardian
  • Winston Duke as M’Baku
  • Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
  • Tom Hiddleston as Loki, most likely the God of Stories
  • Patrick Stewart as Professor X
  • Ian McKellan as Magneto
  • Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
  • Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
  • James Marsden as Cyclops
  • Channing Tatum as Gambit
  • Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic and
  • Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom

That is an impressive and surprising line up for what will be the biggest and most important MCU film in years. The announcement certainly generated excitement among fans and much of it was positive although there were many questions that went unanswered. Here are a few takeaways:

Drawn Out Announcement

On paper it seemed like a good idea to slowly announce the cast with intervals that lasted several minutes. With a cast this large it took over five hours for the announcements to be completed and this tried the patience of many online viewers who wanted (and screamed) for the announcements to hurry up.  For others however, the announcement built up anticipation and created something of an event as many wondered who would be announced next. Some announcements had excited reactions while a few others were obvious.

The event also for all intents and purposes spoiled Thunderbolts* since most of the cast from that upcoming film will survive and appear in Avengers: Doomsday. The Fantastic Four will play an important role in the film which is natural since Doctor Doom is their main enemy. The question remains is how big a role will they play? Most likely the team will be on the level of co-stars and function the same way that the Guardians of the Galaxy did in Avengers: Infinity War.

Finally, given the latter cast announcements, this film not only reunites a few actors from the original Fox X-Men films, but the film will probably be a loose adaptation of the Avengers Vs. X-Men comic book series event from the last decade.

Who Was Left Out

A lot of the buzz generated by the stream was about who was not announced, and it was surprising that some characters apparently won’t be a part of Avengers: Doomsday. These characters include the Hulk, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, War Machine, Captain Marvel, Photon, Star-Lord or the new Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, Wolverine, Wong, and finally the Young Avengers.

Some of the absences are puzzling given how integral some heroes are to the Avengers like the Hulk, have been set up in other MCU projects like the Young Avengers were, and how popular others are like Spider-Man. After all, at the very end of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, a title card announced that Star-Lord would return. If not in this film, then were else? Well, Avengers: Secret Wars, of course.

A few weeks ago, some concept art was leaked that showed images of these missing characters and a few others like Vision and Doctor Strange in what looks like Batttleworld, the location of the Secret Wars comic books. In the first issue of Secret Wars, the main Marvel Universe collided with the Ultimate Marvel Universe and both were destroyed. Doctor Doom managed to scrape together segments of many realities into an artificial world called Battleworld and the Marvel characters were re-imagined. The same thing will probably happen with Avengers: Secret Wars and the absent characters will turn up in that film. This is similar to what happened with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame where Ant-Man and Hawkeye were featured in the latter film but not the former one.

Keep this in mind, however. After the stream ended, Marvel Studios cryptically announced on social media that there would be more announcements. This can be welcome news but truthfully, Marvel Studios has to be careful not to bring in too many characters in order to focus on a few important ones.

Avengers Vs. X-Men

The biggest surprise in the announcement was that of the Fox X-Men film characters returning. This was very welcome news by fans of the early X-Men films, and some of the announcements were stunning. Cumming had such a miserable experience with the blue makeup when filming X2: X-Men United that he refused to reprise his role as Nightcrawler even though his character was very popular. Channing Tatum proved that if a performance is earnest and strong enough it can win you a return ticket to a major franchise. His appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine was among the best and he injected that role with lots of vigor and enthusiasm; frankly he deserved to come back to an MCU film in some fashion.

Among the most notable absences were Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Halle Berry as Storm and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey/Phoenix. Janssen’s absence is puzzling since it brings up the question if the film will have anything to do with the Phoenix Force story from Avengers Vs. X-Men. This implies that the Avengers film will only loosely adapt Avengers Vs. X-Men and focus more on Doctor Doom. It seems likely that instead of the main Marvel Universe battling the Ultimate Marvel Universe, this film will have the MCU characters confronting the Fox X-Men film characters. It is questionable if these X-Men will be those featured from the early films and might be variant versions. It is hard to tell and given that the timeline of those Fox X-Men films is confusing, it’s for the best not to think too hard about it.

The most logical assumption is that the MCU will meet the X-Men seen in the alternate universe seen at the end of The Marvels when Monica Rambeau wound up stranded in that universe. Her appearance will set off an incursion event that will have the two universes collide and lead to Avengers: Secret Wars. But then, if that is the plot, then why wasn’t Teyonah Parris announced? Maybe she will, later. Maybe Marvel Studios wants to keep some appearances as surprises to make up for spoiling Thunderbolts*.

There are many questions that have been raised by the streaming event, which is great for Marvel Studios and Avengers: Doomsday. This demonstrates that there is still interest and excitement about the MCU. To think, all this buzz is for a film that is over a year away and we still haven’t seen a trailer or set photos or anything official aside from a bunch of chairs and Robert Downey Junior motioning us to be silent. All this will be for nothing if Avengers: Doomsday doesn’t deliver, but given the talent behind the film, that seems unlikely.

José Soto

Feb 27 2023

Where Are The MCU’s New Avengers?

This is a nagging question that many have had ever since Avengers: Endgame. At the end of the film, after the Avengers and company defeated Thanos, the superhero team was effectively finished. Tony Stark/Iron Man and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow were dead, Steve Rogers/Captain America went back in time and returned as Joe Biden, Bruce Banner/Hulk was maimed, Thor left for space to pursue adventure with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Clint Barton/Hawkeye went back to retirement in order to spend time with his family. While this was a fitting way to close the chapters on these heroes, their departures left a void that has yet to be filled by another team.

This has not happened so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). After the Avengers split up, which was not the first time since they first broke up in Captain America: Civil War, no one came forward to continue the team. This feels irresponsible since there are still threats going on in the world and beyond, so there is still a need for the Avengers. Also, part of the reason why Thanos was triumphant in Avengers: Infinity War was because the team no longer existed. You would think the surviving heroes in Avengers: Endgame would have at least given thought to continuing the team to face any future threats.

In the Marvel Comics, whenever there were a lot of vacancies in the Avengers, there would be a huge rush of heroes to fill the void of the departed Avengers to form a new roster for the team. The first time this happened with the Avengers actually was very early in the comic book’s run with issue number 16, where the OG Avengers Iron Man, Giant-Man, the Wasp and Thor left the team. This left only Captain America, who was the first recruit, to form a new team of Avengers with Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Hawkeye. Over time, heroes came and went as the make up of the tesm radically changed.

What is unusual about the MCU is that post-Endgame various superheroes operating solo in the films and TV shows often claim to be an Avenger, yet they are not part of an active team. We saw Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Falcon and to some extent, Hawkeye doing this in their solo films/TV shows. If there was an actual team of Avengers in the MCU after Avengers: Endgame think of how quickly the calamities would have ended for the heroes in their individual films and TV shows. Now it seems as if history is repeating itself as Kang has emerged as the next high-level threat following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, although in Ant-Man’s defense, he believes that Kang has been killed. But we know better.

Why hasn’t there been a new roster of MCU Avengers, yet? It boils down to two reasons: Resources and leadership. With Tony Stark gone, there wasn’t anyone who could effectively bankroll the team. Sure, there is his wife, Pepper Potts, but as we saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Stark’s company landed in hot water with the authorities because of their drones that were used by Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. So, the company is probably not in the best financial shape to provide resources for an Avengers team. Once Iron Man and Captain America were written out of the MCU, there has been a lack of leadership in the MCU. Unlike that issue of Avengers #16, there is no Captain America or some equivalent to lead the way and put together a new roster.

Of course, this will change fairly soon with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s clear that a new team of MCU Avengers will emerge to face a threat that no solo hero can handle, namely Kang or Doctor Doom. This may start to happen with next year’s Captain America: New World Order, as the new Capain America/Sam Wilson, who has no super-soldier serum, is forced to create a new team of Avengers. The Thunderbolts could also serve as a catalyst for a new roster of Avengers. Made up of mercenaries, the Thunderbolts in their debut film will probably operate in a less-than-noble manner and prompt the creation of a new Avengers team for the MCU. It’s too bad the MCU version of the Thunderbolts could not more closely match the original comic book counterpart, but to keep the true nature of the team under wraps would be impossible for fans and the “surprise” reveal would lack the same impact as the end of Thunderbolts #1.

There have been recent rumors that the new Captain America would not lead the new Avengers and Spider-Man would do so instead. That is hard to believe for real-world reasons in that the Spider-Man film rights are held by Sony Pictures and it is unlikely that Marvel Studios would have the leader of the Avengers be a character they don’t own the rights to. It will be interesting to see who else will lead the team if not Captain America.

An interesting development that the MCU could do is have the Young Avengers become the de facto Avengers, at least briefly. We have seen many of the Young Avengers members like Kate Bishop, America Chavez, Patriot, and Stature appear in the MCU. Perhaps they will be the new Avengers led by Sam Wilson, or the team could be made up of the following: Captain America, the Hulk, She-Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, all three of the Marvels, and some members of the Eternals and even the Thunderbolts.

Part of the fun right now is speculating over who will be in the new lineup of MCU Avengers. The waiting for the revelation will be worth it as soon as the new team in the films rallies with the iconic battle cry “Avengers Assemble!”.