Marvel has made a number of edits to a poster for Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers to promote the movie’s upcoming Disney+ release — including the odd removal of weapons previously held by Bucky and Yelena, and the deletion of one character completely.
The changes were quickly spotted by fans who compared the poster’s original version, seen during the film’s theatrical run, with the newly-edited version launched online this week.
These edits have reopened fan debate about the film, including its treatment of one particular Thunderbolts member, and Disney’s continued attempts to promote the movie — which reviewed well, but underperformed financially — to audiences unfamiliar with its characters.
New ‘THUNDERBOLTS’ poster no longer features Taskmaster. pic.twitter.com/rbbd5I1p2D
— MCU Film News (@MCUFilmNews) August 14, 2025
So, lets look at the changes in detail. The most obvious edit is the removal of Taskmaster/Antonia Dreykov, who has only a minor role in the final film. Prior to the movie’s initial release, Taskmaster was promoted as a core member of the Thunderbolts. In reality, this was a deliberate misdirect to keep story spoilers under wraps, with the character even edited into a scene within an early trailer she was not present for in the final movie.
Much has already been discussed regarding how plans for the character changed during production, and why the film limited her screentime so significantly — with fans split on whether Taskmaster should have been given more to do, or whether it was the right choice to focus on the team’s main group and the introduction of Lewis Pullman’s character Bob.
“It’s pretty bittersweet to see them remove Taskmaster because on one hand it’s unfortunate that she was done wrong, but on the other hand, Marvel doesn’t deserve to use her as promotion after what they did,” Thunderbolts* fan thunderbelova wrote on social media.
In truth, her removal within the poster’s new version likely reflects the fact that audiences are either now already aware of her limited role in the film, or simply don’t need to be aware she’s in it.
Now, onto the removal of the Thunderbolts’ guns. In the original poster, Yelena holds a pistol and Bucky brandishes a gun that looks like an uzi. In the new poster, Yelena’s hand has been edited so her fingers appear to be making a fist, while Bucky’s hand remains the same — his outstretched index finger now simply pointing rather than resting on a trigger.
“If you remove their guns, now they just look silly,” wrote one fan, AnotherNickYT. “Like why’s Bucky pointing at Walker like that?”
“Editing out the guns so now Bucky is aggressively pointing at John,” wrote another, MorozkosWitch. “Why did you remove Bucky’s guns?” added Jailer2005. “Now he’s just… really intensely pointing at people.”
The original poster depicted the Thunderbolts with a battle scene backdrop, and made it look like the team had guns trained on each other. Taskmaster, meanwhile, was creating sparks with her sword as it clashed against Walker’s shield (all of which is now removed, alongside Taskmaster herself).
The new poster features a brighter backdrop, plain yellow, and the removal of the team’s weapons (and repositioning of Yelena’s hand into a fist) so the group now look more like they are simply having a bit of friendly fisticuffs. It’s a far more light-hearted poster, perhaps playing into the generally good-natured banter within the team the the movie develops, creating some of its funnier moments. Leaning into the comedic side of Thunderbolts* likely also helps market the film to a wider audience (as does the removal of guns that might put some parents off).
Thunderbolts* has notably struggled to find as wide an audience as Disney and Marvel had hoped, despite a positive response to the film from those who did see it, and a clever attempt by Disney at rebranding the team as The New Avengers. At the box office, the movie pulled in $382 million against a $180 million budget — likely meaning that after marketing costs the film made money, but not the kind of totals Marvel is used to.
Why was this? Well, Thunderbolts* focus on a lesser-known group of characters has already been pointed to by Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige as one explanation. But some fans think the project may also have suffered from waning interest in Marvel among general audiences, who are now less inclined to give the studio’s output the benefit of the doubt — and particularly so with Thunderbolts*, coming after the dismal Captain America: Brave New World.
With all of that said, fans who did enjoy Thunderbolts* will get to see the team again next year as part of Avengers: Doomsday. Here’s hoping enough of them pull through that to appear in other Marvel projects down the line, even if hopes for a full Thunderbolts* sequel look slim. And before all of that, of course, Thunderbolts* will be available via Disney+ on August 27. Photoshopped posters or not, it’s well worth a watch.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
