The metallic tang of convention‑hall air-conditioning always hits the same way: recycled cold, instant noodles, nervous sweat, and that faint ozone crackle of too many phone screens at once. Tokyo Comic‑Con on December 5, 2025, smelled exactly like that when Sebastian Stan leaned into the mic and, almost offhand, told the crowd, “If you guys like the movie, help us make another one.” People cheered. I felt my stomach drop. Not because it was cringe, but because it sounded like something you hear from an under‑seen Sundance thriller, not from an MCU crossover that cost the GDP of a small country.
- What Sebastian Stan Really Said About the Thunderbolts Sequel
- Thunderbolts*, Mental Health, and the Box Office Problem
- Do We Actually Need a Thunderbolts Sequel Now?
- What This Means for the Thunderbolts Sequel and the MCU
- Thunderbolts Sequel FAQ
- Why does Sebastian Stan’s push for a Thunderbolts sequel matter after such a big flop?
- How could a Thunderbolts sequel deepen the MCU’s treatment of mental health?
- What does Avengers: Doomsday mean for the future of a Thunderbolts sequel?
- Is a Thunderbolts sequel necessary if the team survives Doomsday anyway?
I’ll admit it: I liked Thunderbolts* far more than its reputation. The May 2, 2025 release was marketed like another punch‑line‑packed ensemble, but under the quips sat a story obsessed with damage and recovery. It pushed mental health to the foreground in a way Marvel usually saves for throwaway lines between explosions. The box office, though, didn’t care. $382 million worldwide turned it into Marvel Studios’ biggest flop of 2025.
What Sebastian Stan Really Said About the Thunderbolts Sequel
On the Marvel Gathering Stage at Tokyo Comic‑Con 2025, Stan didn’t launch into some orchestrated “save our movie” monologue. He talked about the experience: how the Thunderbolts* set was a hangout of very funny people, singling out David Harbour and Wyatt Russell, and how Florence Pugh was “really very talented.” It sounded like a guy remembering a weird, intense summer with coworkers he actually liked.
Then came the line that set alarms ringing for franchise‑watchers: “If you guys like the movie, help us make another one.” No grandstanding, no hashtag campaign, just a soft request into a hot mic. It landed like the moment in a slasher — pick your favorite, mine was always Halloween on a scratched VHS — when you realise the cops aren’t coming and it’s just you and the thing in the dark. Only this time, the “thing” is Marvel’s appetite for risk.
Thunderbolts*, Mental Health, and the Box Office Problem
Thunderbolts* was supposed to be the messy cousin of the Avengers: a 2025 crossover that pulled a new squad of villains‑turned‑heroes into the spotlight and, by the time the credits rolled, rebranded them as the New Avengers. The film didn’t just add more capes to the roster; it shifted the center of gravity. Suddenly the people carrying the Avengers name were the ones with the most visible scars.
Critics and fans latched onto one thing in particular: the mental‑health angle. The movie doesn’t treat therapy and trauma as background flavor; it builds whole character arcs around them. Some viewers even argued it’s the one area where Thunderbolts* outdoes every Avengers movie to date.
And yet, all that thematic ambition ran straight into the wall of financial reality. $382 million worldwide is a brutal number for a Marvel tentpole, especially in a franchise already nursing bruises from films like The Marvels and Eternals. Thunderbolts* became shorthand for “too weird, too heavy, too late.” The irony is hard to ignore: a film finally willing to stare its broken characters in the eye gets punished for not being simple enough to sell in a 30‑second spot.
Do We Actually Need a Thunderbolts Sequel Now?
Here’s where I start arguing with myself.
On one side: Avengers: Doomsday, arriving in 2026, already functions as a kind of built‑in follow‑up. Everyone on the team — yes, even Bob — is confirmed to appear in that mega‑crossover. Thunderbolts* literally ends by declaring these misfits the New Avengers, and its post‑credits scene sets up a looming clash between them and Sam Wilson’s Avengers before Doctor Doom crashes the party. In that sense, the story of this squad isn’t abandoned; it’s just being folded into a bigger machine.
On the other side: folding is not the same as focus. Thunderbolts* put mental health and moral ambiguity front and center; Doomsday has to juggle multiverse stakes, Doom, Sam’s arc, and the entire MCU’s reset trajectory heading toward Secret Wars. There’s a real risk that the very thing that made Thunderbolts* memorable — its willingness to linger on the broken parts — gets sanded down into a subplot in someone else’s movie.
I don’t know which version scares me more: a Thunderbolts sequel that chases safer box office formulas, or no Thunderbolts sequel at all, with this team’s arc resolved off to the side while Doom monologues about destiny. Loved the first film’s willingness to get uncomfortable. Hate the idea that it might be remembered mostly as “the one that tanked.”
A true Thunderbolts sequel could double down on what the first film only started: treating trauma, therapy, and recovery not as seasoning but as the engine of superhero storytelling. The source material already leans on that theme; Marvel just has to resist the urge to hide it behind bigger explosions. That’s the gamble Sebastian Stan was quietly asking us to support in Tokyo — not just more screen time for Bucky, but another shot at this stranger, more self‑aware corner of the MCU.
Honestly, I’m torn. Maybe letting Avengers: Doomsday test‑drive these “New Avengers” in front of a massive audience is exactly what the Thunderbolts sequel needs: proof of concept before Marvel signs another gigantic check. Or maybe waiting will flatten everything that made them interesting in the first place. I just know this: if Marvel ever greenlights a follow‑up that leans into the mess instead of running from it, I’ll be there opening night, popcorn in hand, hoping the room goes quiet at all the wrong moments.
What This Means for the Thunderbolts Sequel and the MCU
- Stan turned hype into vulnerability
Instead of selling toy lines, Sebastian Stan used Tokyo Comic‑Con 2025 to softly ask fans to keep the Thunderbolts sequel alive, which says a lot about where the franchise stands. - Thunderbolts still has unfinished thematic business*
Its focus on mental health and damaged anti‑heroes goes further than most MCU entries; a Thunderbolts sequel is the only place those ideas can really breathe. - Avengers: Doomsday is a proto‑sequel, not a replacement
Doomsday will showcase the team and their New Avengers status, but it’s built as a multiverse event, not as a dedicated Thunderbolts sequel. - Marvel’s risk tolerance is on trial
Backing another Thunderbolts sequel after a $382 million flop would signal that Marvel still cares about experimentation, not just safe bets. - Fan response can actually move the needle
Stan’s “help us make another one” plea is a reminder that, in borderline cases like this, fan enthusiasm can be the difference between a one‑and‑done and a second chance.
Thunderbolts Sequel FAQ
Why does Sebastian Stan’s push for a Thunderbolts sequel matter after such a big flop?
Because he made that plea after Thunderbolts* became Marvel’s biggest 2025 bomb, not before. It’s not scripted junket hype; it’s an actor who knows the numbers and still thinks this team and its themes are worth revisiting. That pushes the Thunderbolts sequel conversation from pure commerce into the territory of creative unfinished business.
How could a Thunderbolts sequel deepen the MCU’s treatment of mental health?
Thunderbolts* is already singled out for taking mental health more seriously than any Avengers film, using it as a core theme rather than a throwaway line. A Thunderbolts sequel could turn that into a proper through‑line — following what recovery, relapse, and therapy look like for characters who are supposed to carry the “New Avengers” mantle, instead of just resetting them between missions.
What does Avengers: Doomsday mean for the future of a Thunderbolts sequel?
Avengers: Doomsday will feature every Thunderbolt, including Bob, and will pit their New Avengers unit against Sam Wilson’s Avengers before uniting them against Doctor Doom. If audiences respond strongly to that dynamic, it strengthens the case for a dedicated Thunderbolts sequel; if they don’t, Marvel has an easy excuse to quietly retire the concept.
Is a Thunderbolts sequel necessary if the team survives Doomsday anyway?
“Necessary” is the wrong word. The Thunderbolts characters will likely keep appearing in the MCU regardless, especially with the Multiverse Saga heading toward a soft reset after Secret Wars. The real question is whether their unique blend of trauma, redemption, and anti‑hero energy gets the focus of a true Thunderbolts sequel — or gets diluted into background noise in other people’s movies.
