Marvel just quietly reshaped how fans should think about Thunderbolts* — and it took a Spider-Man cameo to do it. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova pops up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and her brief appearance fills in a gap in the MCU timeline that’s been sitting untouched for over a year.
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What Changed in Thunderbolts’ Ending
Thunderbolts* closed with Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) rebranding her team of ex-villains as the government-funded New Avengers — a twist that sets up Avengers: Doomsday. Until now, nobody knew what the team was actually doing in the 14-month gap between that ending and Doomsday’s opening scene. Brand New Day answers that, dropping Yelena into the story as the New Avengers’ de facto leader handling day-to-day threats in New York City.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Film Featuring the Cameo | Spider-Man: Brand New Day |
| Character | Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) |
| Timeline Placement | Between Thunderbolts* ending and Doomsday’s post-credits scene |
| MCU Year (Earth-616) | Roughly 2028 |
| Yelena’s Base | An old bathhouse in NYC |
Big Potatoes vs. Small Potatoes
Yelena’s approach to the job is refreshingly simple: she sorts threats into “big potato” and “small potato” problems. When Spider-Man (Tom Holland) brings her a mind-controlling villain case, she initially waves it off as small potatoes — a detail that says a lot about how a government-backed team prioritizes its time when the world isn’t actively ending.
Notably, Yelena never suits up or throws a punch in the movie. She’s used passively, helping Spider-Man dig up intel rather than jumping into the fight herself, which keeps the crossover feeling organic instead of forced.
What This Means for the New Avengers
The cameo also hints that Yelena’s team hasn’t exactly won public trust yet, and that they may still be operating under CIA oversight — echoing the same government-control tension from Captain America: Civil War. With Sam Wilson’s Captain America also assembling his own separate team, the MCU is quietly setting up a rivalry over who really gets to call themselves the Avengers.
Whether Avengers: Doomsday fills in more of this story remains to be seen when it hits theaters this December.
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FAQs
Q1. Where does Yelena’s cameo in Brand New Day fit in the MCU timeline?
It takes place during the 14-month gap between Thunderbolts*’s ending and Avengers: Doomsday’s opening scene.
Q2. Does Yelena fight in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
No, she stays behind the scenes, helping Spider-Man gather information rather than joining the action herself.
