‘The Avengers Are Not Coming’: Where Exactly Are the Avengers During ‘Thunderbolts’?
Here's why they haven't been around to help The post ‘The Avengers Are Not Coming’: Where Exactly Are the Avengers During ‘Thunderbolts’? appeared first on TheWrap.
If there’s one thing that’s been made especially clear in the last few years of Marvel movies — and now even more so in “Thunderbolts*” — it’s that the Avengers are gone, and Earth is sorely missing its mightiest heroes. But what exactly happened to all of them?
It can be hard to remember where everyone ended up after “Avengers: Endgame,” especially because in the six years since that movie came out, there have been 25 new projects (split between TV series and movies). So, we figured it was about time to take stock, especially since that final line-up of Avengers was pretty extensive.
Here’s what happened to everyone, and why they haven’t shown up in awhile.
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)
Nick Fury isn’t technically an Avenger, but he is of course the man responsible for bringing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together — and thus making the Marvel Cinematic Universe possible.
He’s also been really busy since the events of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), living on the S.A.B.E.R. space station where his focus has been on spacebound threats to humanity. Which is to say, he’s been understandably too busy to deal with the kinds of things a new Avengers team might deal with.
He was last seen in 2023’s “The Marvels,” still stationed out in space. He’s not part of the announced cast for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” but given Fury’s introduction to the MCU came in the stinger for “Iron Man,” we’re not ruling anything out.
Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)
Tony Stark/Iron Man kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008 and remained the franchise’s most successful individual character until his very poignant death at the end of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).
That’s of course when Tony sacrificed himself to snap Thanos out of existence, a permanent death that ended the “Infinity Saga” and Tony’s ability to appear in any future version of The Avengers.
But while Tony Stark is dead, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU in 2026 with “Avengers: Doomsday,” where he’ll be playing Dr. Doom instead of Iron Man.
Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans)
Technically, Captain America is still very much around, as Sam Wilson — formerly the Falcon — has taken up the mantle. But what happened to Steve Rogers?
At the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” he traveled back in time to return the Infinity Stones to their proper timelines. It was meant to be a quick journey that he’d almost immediately return from, but Steve opted instead to return to the past and live out his life with his love Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
As of “Endgame,” Steve was still alive, but very elderly. So, presumably, he’s dead by now. But there have also been jokes in universe that he’s somewhere on the moon. Either way, he’s not around.
But hey, as TheWrap exclusively reported in December, Chris Evans has been cast in an unspecified role in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)
Natasha Romanoff was one of the core six Avengers, and even got her own standalone film in 2021. But it’s important to remember that that film took place in the past, immediately after the events of “Captain America: Civil War” (2016).
Sadly, she was also among the casualties of “Avengers: Endgame.” She sacrificed herself on the planet Vormir in order to help Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) obtain the soul stone, so the Avengers could defeat Thanos.
That film makes it clear her death was permanent — not even the infinity gauntlet could bring her back. Of course, since RDJ is returning in a completely new role, we can’t rule anything out definitively…
Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
Thor is one of the three original Avengers confirmed to still be alive. So, why hasn’t he been helping out? Well, he’s off world. Last we saw him was in “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022), when he adopted Gorr’s (Christian Bale) daughter as his own. Thor raises and trains her, and together, they help all those they can. As far as we know, he hasn’t been back to Earth since.
But Thor will be back on Earth soon. Hemsworth is confirmed to be returning as part of the main cast in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner)
Hawkeye is also alive and, unlike Thor, actually still on Earth. We last saw him in 2021 on the Disney+ series “Hawkeye,” helping Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) defeat Kingpin.
After their exploits were over, Clint went back into retirement and, as far as we know, that is where he remains, just hanging out with and taking care of his family. And for now at least, Renner isn’t part of the announced “Doomsday” cast.
Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)
Of the original six Avengers, Bruce Banner is arguably the hardest to track down, despite being the one we most recently saw on screen. He appeared in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” (2022), helping his cousin Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) navigate her new life as She-Hulk.
At the end of the series, he crashed the family lunch to reveal that he has a son named Skaar, who he went off-world to find. What exactly those two are doing now is anyone’s guess.
We might need to wait a bit longer to find out — so far anyway, Bruce isn’t among the characters confirmed to return in “Doomsday.”
Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)
Wanda Maximoff officially became an Avenger back in “Avengers: Ultron.” Where is she now? Well, by all appearances, she’s dead.
At the end of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), she collapsed the temple of the Scarlet Witch on top of herself after realizing she’d been corrupted by the Darkhold.
The first episode of Disney+’s “Agatha All Along” (2024) seemed to confirm she was dead, showing a body that looked an awful lot like her. But, moments later in that same episode, it’s said that the witch is “gone” — not “dead.” According to showrunner Jac Schaeffer that word choice was very intentional (and instructed).
The show went to great lengths to waffle on whether Wanda is really dead — though Schaeffer liked our running theory on the truth — so it’s hard to say for sure. But, at least at the current moment, she seems to be.
Olsen isn’t part of the announced “Avengers: Doomsday” cast — but obviously Marvel wouldn’t reveal a spoiler that big so far in advance. Stay tuned…
Vision (Paul Bettany)
Killed by Thanos in hand to hand combat during the events of “Avengers: Infinity War,” Vision wasn’t able to be resurrected when Bruce Banner reversed The Snap. And as we learned in 2021’s “WandaVision,” S.W.O.R.D. later recovered his body and stripped it for parts, literally, which were then used to build a much more deadly White Vision who lacked the original’s personality or memories.
But the original Vision was also brought back, sort of, by Wanda, who in a grief-struck mania effectively turned her memories of Vision into a living being as part of the hex that trapped Westview in a simulation of various American sitcoms.
That Vision died after Wanda ended the hex on Westview, but not before helping White Vision unlock the original’s memories. White Vision was last seen flying off. immediately after declaring “I am Vision.”
Presumably he’s been figuring things out somewhere by himself since then. Bettany isn’t part of the “Doomsday” cast, but he’s confirmed to return in the upcoming Disney+ series “Vision Quest” which premieres sometime in 2026.
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
It’s hard to say where Doctor Strange actually is. At the end of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” he follows Clea (Charlize Theron) — yeah, remember when Charlize Theron entered the MCU? — into another dimension to help take care of an incursion.
So, he could be in whatever dimension that is. He could also be done with that and just chilling at the Sanctum Sanctorum, listening to his apparently massive music collection. Maybe he’s helping Wong to train America Chavez.
We really have no idea. And since — for now — Cumberbatch isn’t part of the “Doomsday” cast, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out.
Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland)
Peter Parker is alive and well, it’s just that no one knows who he is. In “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), he’s forced to let Doctor Strange cast a spell that erases everyone’s memory of Peter Parker in order to save the multiverse from collapsing.
Everyone still knows Spider-Man exists, but they have no idea who Peter Parker is, including his friends and any surviving Avengers who knew him.
So, for the time being, he’s just been Spider-Man-ing it up in New York, anonymously. We’ll see if that changes in 2026 when he returns in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd)
Last time we saw Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man, was in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which largely took place in the Quantum Realm. But the movie definitely ends back on Earth, with Scott reunited with his family in San Francisco. So, he’s alive and well, just on another coast — and presumably enjoying his life as a best-selling author.
He’ll be back however, in “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)
Captain Marvel is also alive and well, and now living in Louisiana. She moves into the home that Maria and Monica Rambeau previously lived in, watching over it until Monica figures out a way back to this Earth.
Like Scott, we don’t know what she’s been doing, we just know she’s in a different state than where most of the Earth action takes place — and that Larson isn’t part of the announced “Avengers: Doomsday” cast.
Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie)
As we mentioned above, Sam Wilson is now Captain America, after previously serving the Avengers as the Falcon, and Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres is now the Falcon, in universe. Both were in “Captain America: Brave New World,” helping out Washington D.C. in the aftermath of the president becoming the Red Hulk.
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) mentions that incident in “Thunderbolts*” but neither of them show up. It’s a bit odd, considering a major plot point of “Brave New World” was Sam accepting the task of rebuilding the Avengers.
He at least gets mentioned in the post-credits scene though (no spoilers beyond that, sorry), and Mackie is confirmed for “Avengers: Doomsday.” So, in theory, Cap and Falcon should both be helping out again soon.
Black Panther (Letitia Wright)
In the MCU, the original Black Panther is dead. Following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing from cancer, the franchise opted to also kill the character and have T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) take up the mantle.
After dealing with Talokan’s ruler Namor (Tenoch Huerta), Shuri returned to Wakanda to lead her country, as her mother was also killed in battle. So, she’s simply on another continent. But she’ll back back in “Doomsday.”
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