Thunderbolts* did not feature Spider-Man or other New York City heroes despite how the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought a major threat to the city, but there is a perfect explanation for their absence. Thunderbolts* is now a streaming hit after having a disappointing box office run. That said, it is one of the MCU’s best movies, despite what its box office suggests.

The film saw the Thunderbolts, now known as the MCU’s New Avengers, stop Sentry’s dark side, the Void, from casting a shadow all over NYC that would take everyone into trauma rooms. The Void’s powers make characters relive the darkest memories from their past. While future Marvel movies could show another side of Thunderbolts*‘s events, other heroes did not appear.

With New York City being the location in the MCU with the most active heroes, I felt it was strange not to have at least one other hero, such as Spider-Man, who is the most popular character ᴀssociated with the MCU’s New York, show up to deal with Sentry’s evil persona. However, Marvel has given a great answer to why that did not happen.

Marvel Explained Why Spider-Man Was Absent From Thunderbolts*

During an interview with ScreenRant, Thunderbolts* writer Eric Pearson addressed Spider-Man and other NYC heroes’ absence. While he did not give a direct answer to where Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was during the events of Thunderbolts*, Pearson came up with an effective way of interpreting why other heroes were not needed for the MCU movie, as they might not have had time to react.

According to Pearson, time might be perceived differently inside the Void. When the Thunderbolts* went into it to get Bob out, we saw that the black shadow was expanding over NYC. Presumably, that could have reached other MCU heroes. However, given that Pearson believes “the time of it is happening so much faster than you expect,” they might not have been affected.

More than that, the actual duration of the Void’s expansion and retraction could have been incredibly short. While the Thunderbolts were stuck in their trauma rooms trying to find Bob for some time, that could have been a second or so in real time. If Spider-Man and the rest did not have time to react to the Void, their absence tracks.

Thunderbolts* Finally Answers The Age-Old Superhero Movie Question

With a shared universe, the question of why a movie does not see a hero or a team call out others to help with a major threat comes back time and again. Thunderbolts* has the perfect explanation for why that does not happen. There are two reasons. First, the event happening so fast prevented any superhero communications.

Additionally, the characters were stuck in the Void, where they could not reach out to heroes on the outside. While it would have been fun to see Spider-Man and other NYC heroes in Thunderbolts*, and it would have avoided many questions, I don’t think their presence was needed for the movie to work. Thunderbolts*‘s story played out fine without them.