TL;DR for those juggling three meetings and one last coffee: 

Marvel Studios just dropped the title for their next MCU movie: Thunderbolts. But only days later—Boom!—they rebranded it as The New Avengers. Strategic masterstroke or desperate pivot disguised as disruption? Let’s talk strategy, because what Marvel did here is more marketing than cinema—and here at Garage Marketing, we keep it unfiltered. 

Don’t speak fluent comic? 
You should. But no worries—here’s the context: 

In Marvel lore, the Thunderbolts are the bad guys trying to do good. Think antiheroes with a license to break stuff. Kind of like a Marvel-style Suicide Squad. But without Tony Stark’s charisma or the Avengers’ epic status. They’re not even Margot Robbie or Will Smith in their prime to make us fall in love with the chaos. 
So why bet on them? 

Simple: Marvel is in crisis—and the Avengers are gone. 
They literally killed off their biggest stars, and now they’re scrambling—less creativity, more anxiety—to regain cultural relevance and box-office glory. 

Spoiler: It’s not working. And no, they haven’t figured it out. 

The Plot Twist That Wasn’t in the Script 

According to sources like Cinemanía, Marvel launched Thunderbolts with a dark, serious tone. But only days after the announcement, they changed the name to The New Avengers. Not in the script, but probably in an emergency boardroom meeting where marketing was told to “fix it.” 

No anesthesia. No warning. 

It’s like if Netflix decided tomorrow to rename Money Heist to Breaking Spain. And because it’s Netflix, we’d just roll with it. 

Genius strategy? Maybe. 
Panic move? More likely. 

But where’s the trick? 

Here’s where things get interesting: This isn’t just a marketing hiccup—it’s a strategic move. In this kind of storm, marketing becomes the lifeboat. Let’s break it down: 

1. Repositioning / Leveraging 
   Thunderbolts doesn’t sell itself. The New Avengers is how you hook the casual fan—the one who still cares about the brand but hasn’t been paying attention. 
2. Retro Marketing 
   A classic marketer’s move: use nostalgia to fuel a new product. No more Iron Man or Captain America, but say “New Avengers” and you light up the memory of the MCU glory days. It’s not just selling a movie—it’s selling a feeling. 
3. Rebranding 
   When in doubt, go back to what worked. Marvel is a franchise with deep brand equity—decades of trust and visibility. Even if you’re not a comic geek, you know the Avengers. So why not revive that power? It’s less about the characters and more about the emotional recall: “for old times’ sake.” 

And what about AI? 

Just like in our lives—where ChatGPT has probably replaced our dogs as the most loyal companion—AI is already writing scripts, designing concepts, and generating trailers. But here’s the catch: AI lacks soul, legacy, and cultural instinct. 

If Marvel gives in to the temptation of turning everything over to algorithms (as rumors suggest), what we’ll get is technically perfect content… with no heart. Like a beautifully wrapped Styrofoam popsicle—looks nice, no flavor. 

I know, I’m not a film critic. 
Yes, you were thinking that. But we’re marketers, and we know this: 

1. Brands can get away with almost anything. 
   Marvel’s franchise power still commands attention—even when the product isn’t peaking. 
2. Rebranding is not just cosmetic. 
   It’s a calculated return to familiar ground. Done well, it rebuilds trust. Done poorly, it reeks of manipulation. 
3. Retro marketing (nostalgia) still works. 
   For brands with legacy, it’s gold. But it’s also overused. You have to live up to your past—if you can’t deliver the magic again, fans will feel betrayed. 
4. AI is an incredible assistant—but it’s not human. 
   It can’t feel what we feel. It doesn’t dream like we do. And it can’t sense when a story resonates—or falls flat. 

The New Avengers could be Marvel’s Endgame—as in the end of the game—or the dawn of a new golden phase. Either way, it shows us that even with no fresh ideas, Marvel still knows how to stay in the conversation. 

They haven’t lost their power—just their direction. 
And when the marketing GPS fails, you reach for the oldest tool in the kit: rebranding. 
Will it work? The box office will answer that.