Did Marvel Studios just ‘save’ its movie from being a box office disaster? Fans say yes

Marvel Studios is facing a slump of late with several of its movies and shows falling way short of expectations in both reviews and box office numbers. Its latest release, Captain America: Brave New World starring Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the new man with the shield was also met with poor critical reviews contributing to a gross of less than $350 million despite some hype and excitement.

By comparison, the next MCU film on the slate, Thunderbolts* slated for a May 2 release has a much smaller fanbase and poorer hype than Captain America: Brave New World. As such, not many are keen on giving their time to a movie that features anti-heroes and just one Avengers movie member-Sebastian Stan’s Bucky.

Social media comments before the trailer:

Early last week, online forums like Reddit were full of fans being ignorant of the film with comments like ‘Not worth,’ ‘I will wait for Doomsday’ and ‘Marvel is dead’. However, everything changed in literally one minute following a fresh teaser trailer that dropped not more than a couple of days ago.

Filled with a peppy soundtrack, the latest teaser for Thunderbolts* does not advertise the movie but rather its creators. The creatives who wrote and designed the cinematography and soundtrack for the film were the highlights.

The 'Absolute Cinema' trailer for Thunderbolts*:

Social media comments after the trailer:

A first of a kind from Marvel, the teaser gave a complete A24 vibe, dragging in fans like a horde with social media sites and YouTube comments filled with lines like ‘Marvel you just bought a ticket with this trailer,’ ‘I wasn’t planning to watch this one but now I have to,’ ‘Give the editor a raise they might have just saved the movie,’ and ‘Okay now I am seated.

About Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts*:

In all likelihood, indeed, Marvel Studios may have just swung in an army of fans back with the latest Thunderbolts* teaser. The film stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman as Bob.

In India, Thunderbolts* will be released on May 1, 2025