Superhero movie fans can’t be disappointed with this year’s CinemaCon. The event has been an unexpected source of superhero action, delivering plenty of great surprises.
First, we learned the Spider-Man 4 title and release date. Then, Sony revealed Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will hit theaters in 2027, about a year after Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The first extended clip from James Gunn’s Superman is also out, and the superhero goodies don’t stop there.
Marvel released new trailers at CinemaCon for its remaining MCU movies of the year, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The two Marvel movies are coming out in early May and mid-July, respectively, so new trailers and promo clips were certainly expected from the show.
Even though the two MCU flicks are going to play in theaters soon, we don’t get to see them online just yet. Marvel hasn’t uploaded the two clips to its YouTube channel, but the world has already learned what they are all about. Each clip contains a few plot twists for the two movies that Marvel might want to keep secret for a while longer.
Beware, spoilers will follow below! You’ll want to avoid them if you want to be surprised in theaters in the coming weeks.
Thunderbolts*
I told you before that Thunderbolts* is the 2025 Marvel movie I’m the most excited about. My excitement only grows with each reveal, as these revelations all seem to support the crazy explanation for that asterisk in the title.
The Thunderbolts will end up calling themselves New Avengers by the time they’re done with this movie. That’s what theories and leaks say, and Marvel’s crazy Avengers: Doomsday further reinforces them. The Thunderbolts will be part of the first line of defense against Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), and I expect some of them to die.
We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but you need that context to understand the big plot details from the CinemaCon 2025 Thunderbolts* trailer.
The clip shows Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and US Agent (Wyatt Russell) driving in a van to a mysterious destination.
According to a Reddit account detailing the CinemaCon MCU trailer, they crash the van into the building they’re visiting, and a big fight ensues. Apparently, it’s “a brutal all-out brawl between the Thunderbolts” and those looking to stop them. The fight ends when Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tells the Thunderbolts they can simply come up. That’s right; this is the former Avengers Tower they’re heading to.
That’s the first big Thunderbolts* plot reveal, and it’s not the only one. Val asks the Thunderbolts to form a team of some sort, but they refuse. That’s a key plot detail, which tells us the scene happens at some point early in the movie. We saw parts of the scene in other trailers, including footage showing the Thunderbolts near a van and discussing a possible team name.
Finally, the Bob (Lewis Pullman), aka the Sentry, raises his hand and slams one of the Thunderbolts against the window. Is he out of the building or inside? That’s an important detail, but the Redditor doesn’t explain it.
We know from other Thunderbolts* trailers that a bad version of the Sentry (The Void) will do bad things in New York. There’s even a scene of him flying around the former Avengers Tower.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
If I were to guess, I’d say Marvel will soon show the Thunderbolts* clip as the movie hits theaters next month. But The Fantastic Four clip that played at CinemaCon 2025 might stay hidden for a while. Regardless of when we get to see it, we know what happens in the trailer, thanks to the same Redditor.
The clip tells us that Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is already pregnant in the movie, and that’s a great plot detail. It means Franklin Richards is coming to the MCU, just as some rumors have claimed in the past.
The other big Fantastic Four plot reveal is the introduction of one of the villains, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). She comes to Earth to warn the Fantastic Four that the world has been marked for imminent destruction. That’s an important detail to remember.
The Fantastic Four hail from a different reality, but they’ll end up meeting the MCU’s Avengers and helping them face Doctor Doom. All the Fantastic Four will appear in Doomsday. Maybe Galactus does end up destroying their universe and that’s how they get transported to a different reality.
The clip also tells us the Fantastic Four is well-known in this universe. The world is looking up to them for protection, and the four heroes will do everything in their power to defend the planet. But, according to this account of the trailer, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) won’t necessarily be convinced they’ll be able to beat Galactus.
The Fantastic Four hits cinemas on July 25th, which gives us plenty of time for Marvel to release the new trailer. I expect the video to play in theaters before May 2nd, the premiere of Thunderbolts*, but that’s just a guess.
