Marvel's Upcoming Thunderbolts Comic Is Actually a New Avengers Relaunch

Following in the footsteps of the film, it seems.

Thunderbolts* had a somewhat underwhelming opening at cinemas over this past weekend, so Disney Marvel's solution was to wow fans early this week with the revelation that the movie's real title is... *The New Avengers. The news hasn't exactly stunned anyone (and is also something of a spoiler for the end of the movie), but we'll just have to wait and see if it helps the film's staying power. While that's an interesting tidbit all its own, apparently Marvel Comics has chosen now for one of its arbitrary attempts to form synergy between the silver screen and the printed page.

Revealed today in a press release, it seems that the upcoming Thunderbolts series by writer Sam Humphries and artist Ton Lima is also getting a name change to The New Avengers (minus any asterisks). The lineup consists of Winter Soldier, Hulk, Black Widow, Carnage (Eddie Brock), X-23, Namor, and Clea uniting to fight a threat bigger than any of them individually can hope to triumph over. Here's the synopsis from the press release:

Since their debut as a team of disguised supervillains, the Thunderbolts have become synonymous with unpredictable twists and unconventional rosters. This legacy continues with a surprise—and first-of-its-kind—comic book title change that echoes the jaw-dropping twist in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, now in theaters, while introducing an entirely new—and shocking—team of heroes!

THE WINTER SOLDIER. BLACK WIDOW. CARNAGE. THE HULK. NAMOR. CLEA. WOLVERINE. It's a group of the most dangerous loners and antiheroes in the Marvel Universe, and yet they'll come together as the NEW AVENGERS!

In classic Avengers fashion, they'll assemble to take on a threat too big for any one hero to combat—corrupt clones of the Illuminati! And in the spirit of Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch decade-defining NEW AVENGERS (2004) run, this radical lineup will usher in a revolutionary new era of Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

The debut issue will feature a main cover by Stephen Segovia with variants by Mark Bagley, Whilce Portacio, Derrick Chew, Stephanie Hans, Ejikure, Woo-Chul Lee, Josemaria Casanovas, and Andy Park. You can reserve a copy at your LCS and pick it up on 06.11.25. Will it be anywhere near as interesting or as impactful as the original New Avengers #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch? Probably not, given Marvel's current track record. Still, no point in judging until the book is actually on stands.

Source: Marvel Comics Press Release