Thunderbolts* Actor David Harbour on Why There’s an Asterisk in the Title

There have been a lot of speculations about why the title of the MCU movie Thunderbolts* has an asterisk at the end. Some fans think that it is supposed to denote the movie’s connection to the Dark Avengers comic book series. Published between 2009 and 2013, the comics revolve around supervillains and anti-heroes disguised as various superheroes. There is also a theory claiming the asterisk signifies that the movie will have Easter eggs for Avengers: Doomsday. Now, David Harbour, who reprises his role as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian in the movie, has addressed the issue.

David Harbour teases why Thunderbolts* has an asterisk

Harbour didn’t outright explain why there is an asterisk in the Thunderbolts* title, but he indicated that it had some importance. He also revealed that the asterisk was “retroactively” placed in the title.

“I mean, they retroactively put the asterisk [in],” Harbour told ComicBook.com. “The asterisk was an idea that that someone had… What can I say that’s not going to get me in trouble?… The asterisk is very cool. I understand why people might put an asterisk there. I’m excited for the viewers to see that as well. But I, again, I just can’t say anymore,” he added.

Answering a question on whether he was aware of all the rumors circulating about Thunderbolts*, the Stranger Things actor said that he had “started to move away from all of that” before expressing concerns about AI-generated content.

“I’m like, who wrote this? This isn’t even English. But but I think that the it can get dangerous because I don’t want to hear what everyone’s opinion is about all kinds of stuff about me,” Harbour added.

“But we are very comic book true, which I was pleased about. I think there might be some speculation of what people understand about the comics as opposed to people that have actually read the comics. I think there’s a lot of experts out there that get very annoyed at things. And if you go back and you actually look at it, you might see something different,” he further stated.

Thunderbolts* is scheduled to premiere in the U.S. theaters on May 2, 2025.