Thunderbolts* Poster Breaks Major Marvel Trend That No Other MCU Movie Has Before

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The first Thunderbolts* poster marks a special milestone for the MCU. As Thunderbolts*" May 2025 release date approaches, Marvel Studios begins the Phase 5 movie"s promotional run. The first Thunderbolts* trailer shows the team coming together against their will and Bob meeting them. Bucky Barnes also returns with his Vibranium arm, sporting his long "Winter Soldier" hairstyle. The Thunderbolts* trailer suggests there"s more to the Thunderbolts team than just a simple Avengers-like mission, and some of the main anti-heroes may not live to see the end of the movie.
In the comics, the Thunderbolts assemble to replace the Avengers as the world"s most famous superheroes in order to hide their evil identities and intentions, as the team is secretly made up of villains such as Baron Zemo and Goliath. The Thunderbolts* movie trailer confirms that the MCU"s Thunderbolts won"t follow their comic book origin story, but each of them does have a dark past and a volatile personality that makes the team a ticking bomb. As such, the Thunderbolts are likely to butt heads much more than the Avengers, the Defenders, or any other MCU team. The first Thunderbolts* poster captures these dynamics perfectly.
The Thunderbolts* Poster Has Multiple Marvel Characters Interacting The Thunderbolts* Poster Avoids Several MCU Poster Problems

Throughout the years, Marvel movie posters have stuck to an easily identifiable trend. Main characters are usually put front and center in a standing or fighting pose, and the rest of the cast"s faces are edited in above and around the protagonist. Otherwise, MCU posters often add each individual character"s still photo to create the illusion of a team image. As a result, it"s obvious that the characters aren"t present in the same room, and both their proportions and poses can sometimes look unnatural. On the other hand, The Thunderbolts* poster shows all the main characters actually interacting with each other.
The Thunderbolts* poster follows an already established style seen in other movie and TV posters such as This Is The End, Inside Out, The Muppets, and Sons of Anarchy, where all characters are fighting to fit inside the frame.
There have been a few exceptions to the MCU"s typical poster style. For instance, The Avengers" main poster features the titular team fighting in a New York City street; Captain America: Civil War shows the main cast divided into Team Iron Man and Team Captain America, facing each other; and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings includes Shang-Chi and Wenwu fighting. Beyond that, the most notable interaction between characters in MCU posters can be seen in Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, where the male leads are embracing the female leads.
Why The Thunderbolts* Movie Poster Is So Great The First Thunderbolts* Poster Teases The Main Characters' Dynamics Close The MCU"s posters rarely broke new ground since Iron Man. Usually, the characters" abilities were clearly presented, but the posters didn"t tell any story beyond the idea of an impending battle. The Thunderbolts" explosive personalities are evident in the Thunderbolts* poster, and their poses tease their relationship with the rest of the team. For example, Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes seem disappointed in the team, while Lewis Pullman"s Bob a.k.a. the Sentry seems scared and Ghost seems to be enjoying the fight more than everyone else. In short, the Thunderbolts* poster is as chaotic and darkly funny as the movie promises to be.

Thunderbolts* (2025)
Director Jake Schreier Writers Lee Sung-jin , Eric Pearson , Joanna Calo Cast Florence Pugh , Sebastian Stan , David Harbour , Wyatt Russell , Olga Kurylenko , Hannah John-Kamen , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Geraldine Viswanathan , Lewis Pullman , Joshua Mikel Release Date May 2, 2025 Budget $200 million Upcoming MCU Movies