Wait, did Marvel just reveal what the asterisk means in the Thunderbolts* movie title?

Who would have thought that the score would be one of the defining points of the conversation surrounding the MCU’s first real Avengers replacement team? But as soon as Kevin Feige revealed the addition of the asterisk to Rays*‘, the studio has unlocked a subtly ingenious marketing tool: fan speculation.

Rays never made much sense as a title, given the fact that Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross – after whom the team is named in the comics, of course – doesn’t appear and appears to have nothing to do with the team. Instead, they were brought together thanks to (or in spite of) Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The Contessas don’t really have the same meaning.

Adding an asterisk fundamentally added mystery to the MCU’s next team-up, suggesting the title would change – not unlike Agatha all the timeof the various titles – or that developing a story would change the expectation of them being a team. The first Rays* The trailer added more weight to this second line of thought, but it’s the latest trailer that seems to offer more evidence of what’s going on.

New Thunderbolts* trailer suggests the team will be given a different name

At the end of Rays* trailer that was released at Disney’s D23 Brazil event, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky notably says “we can’t call ourselves that‘ after Red Guardian tries out the name and the next scene sees the asterisk added to the title card. It feels like an in-universe admission of what some have long suspected: that’s not his official name at all.

It seems the asterisk was always just a joke – mostly at Red Guardian’s expense. He believes “The Thunderbolts” is a “legal name” as he says in the trailerbut the rest of the team seems particularly averse to the suggestion. In fact, antiheroes have the opportunity to do something the Avengers never managed, rejecting the name someone else gives them. It’s unclear if this will actually lead to a new title for the film, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It seems it’s more likely that the team will simply get a new official name at the end of the film.

What the Thunderbolts* team could be called

The other most persistent rumor surrounding the team name in Rays* focuses on The Dark Avengersa much cooler moniker that fits the antiheroes’ modus operandi of covert ops missions and off-book wet work. The problem with this, of course, is that the Dark Avengers are an existing Marvel Comics team who were imposter villains masquerading as legitimate heroes. Clearly that is not the case here.

It wouldn’t be out of the question for the name to be repurposed if Marvel Studios didn’t have plans to do a pure Dark Avengers adaptation, but that would be a shame. But the anti-heroes using the Secret Avengers team name that was officially given to Captain America’s splinter Avengers team that debuted in Avengers: Infinity War, would be more appropriate. They also worked in the shadows after Captain America: Civil Warevents, and it seems more fitting for Bucky to be part of a team without an ominous name.

Bucky has struggled with his own Winter Soldier legacy for years and is clearly committed to helping other superpowered individuals with “red in their books” in Rays* and for him to accept the name “Dark Avengers” doesn’t work. And as one of the MCU’s oldest heroes, Bucky deserves to still be able to call himself an Avenger, frankly.