by Josh Sewell
The MCU has been a roller coaster of quality since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame wrapped up most of the major heroes’ stories. For every Spider-Man: No Way Home or the underrated The Marvels, audiences have also been subjected to inferior flicks like the beautiful but bland Eternals and February’s straight-up awful Captain America: Brave New World.
In our current era of superhero fatigue, I’m happy to report that Thunderbolts* – the asterisk eventually makes sense – is the first genuinely good Marvel movie in quite some time. I’m not ready to declare that the studio is back on the rails (let’s see how July’s Fantastic Four reboot turns out), but it’s nice to be reminded what these stories are capable of.
Thunderbolts* focuses on an unconventional team of antiheroes that viewers met in previous MCU films and television series. That includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and her adoptive father Red Guardian (David Harbour), along with Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
After finding themselves caught in a death trap set by villainous CIA head Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), these disillusioned warriors must embark on a dangerous mission to help a mysterious test subject named Bob (Lewis Pullman). As the dysfunctional gang confronts the darkest corners of their traumatic pasts, they must decide if they’re going to tear themselves apart or find redemption.
A big reason why Thunderbolts* works is because director Jake Schreier (Netflix’s Beef), along with screenwriters Eric Pearson (a Marvel vet) and Joanna Calo (one of Schreier’s Beef collaborators), crafts the story from a perspective we haven’t seen much in the MCU, complete with innovative visual flourishes. What’s more, emotional stakes matter more than physical ones. Yes, the unorthodox family must eventually save New York City. But their key to victory is helping a troubled individual come to terms with his mental illness, as opposed to decapitating a monstrous purple alien.
Granted, that sounds like cheesy pop psychology on paper. In the wrong hands, it might’ve come off that way and ended in a tonal misfire of disastrous proportions. Fortunately, by keeping the flawed but well-intentioned characters at the forefront, rather than the usual generic CGI action, Schrier, Pearson and Calo ensure the story has a surprising amount of pathos.
Even better, Thunderbolts* mostly saves future MCU world-building for the end credits where it belongs. Although it hints at events to come, the film focuses on those involved in the story rather than setting up vague plot points down the line that we might not ever see. (Remember when Kang was going to be the central antagonist for this phase, until Jonathan Majors ran into legal trouble?)
When a narrative relies so crucially on the charisma of its protagonists, the actors are key. In the case of this film, audiences can relax knowing they’re in good hands. I still hate that Scarlett Johansson’s character went out in such an anticlimactic way in Endgame, but Pugh is a fantastic choice to replace her.
Yelena has such a great combination of heart and deadpan humor (which also made her one of the best parts of the underrated Disney+ series Hawkeye) that I could totally see her becoming a central figure in MCU installments to come. The same goes for Harbour, who demonstrates adorable father-daughter chemistry with Pugh. They were the highlights of 2021’s otherwise lackluster Black Widow, so it’s great to see them lovingly bicker again.
Stan (a newly minted Oscar nominee) could play Bucky in his sleep at this point, so it’s nice to see him still trying to find new aspects of the character to focus on. He’s gone from villain to antihero to mentor to congressman(!) over the last decade, which proves his best friend Steve Rogers’ faith in him wasn’t misplaced. He’s one of the MCU’s only remaining links to its glory days, so I hope he sticks around for a while.
Russell and John-Kamen are also solid, getting a chance to flesh out characters who didn’t get much of a chance to earn audience goodwill in their previous entries. However, the work from Louis-Dreyfus and Pullman (playing someone named Bob yet again, like his pilot in Top Gun: Maverick) might stand out the most. The former clearly relishes the chance to play an over-the-top sleazy villain, while the latter injects pathos into a complicated character who could’ve been perplexing or flat-out insulting if portrayed the wrong way.
I don’t know if Thunderbolts* will persuade burned-out former MCU fans to return to theaters, but hopefully folks will give it a chance. If nothing else, I need it to do well in order to convince Marvel this is the kind of storytelling longtime viewers are interested in, rather than the bland CGI overload we’ve mostly gotten since Endgame.
Thunderbolts* is rated PG-13 for strong language, violence, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references. Opens in theaters on May 2.
Grade: B+
In our current era of superhero fatigue, I’m happy to report that Thunderbolts* – the asterisk eventually makes sense – is the first genuinely good Marvel movie in quite some time. I’m not ready to declare that the studio is back on the rails (let’s see how July’s Fantastic Four reboot turns out), but it’s nice to be reminded what these stories are capable of.
Thunderbolts* focuses on an unconventional team of antiheroes that viewers met in previous MCU films and television series. That includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and her adoptive father Red Guardian (David Harbour), along with Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
After finding themselves caught in a death trap set by villainous CIA head Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), these disillusioned warriors must embark on a dangerous mission to help a mysterious test subject named Bob (Lewis Pullman). As the dysfunctional gang confronts the darkest corners of their traumatic pasts, they must decide if they’re going to tear themselves apart or find redemption.
A big reason why Thunderbolts* works is because director Jake Schreier (Netflix’s Beef), along with screenwriters Eric Pearson (a Marvel vet) and Joanna Calo (one of Schreier’s Beef collaborators), crafts the story from a perspective we haven’t seen much in the MCU, complete with innovative visual flourishes. What’s more, emotional stakes matter more than physical ones. Yes, the unorthodox family must eventually save New York City. But their key to victory is helping a troubled individual come to terms with his mental illness, as opposed to decapitating a monstrous purple alien.
Granted, that sounds like cheesy pop psychology on paper. In the wrong hands, it might’ve come off that way and ended in a tonal misfire of disastrous proportions. Fortunately, by keeping the flawed but well-intentioned characters at the forefront, rather than the usual generic CGI action, Schrier, Pearson and Calo ensure the story has a surprising amount of pathos.
Even better, Thunderbolts* mostly saves future MCU world-building for the end credits where it belongs. Although it hints at events to come, the film focuses on those involved in the story rather than setting up vague plot points down the line that we might not ever see. (Remember when Kang was going to be the central antagonist for this phase, until Jonathan Majors ran into legal trouble?)
When a narrative relies so crucially on the charisma of its protagonists, the actors are key. In the case of this film, audiences can relax knowing they’re in good hands. I still hate that Scarlett Johansson’s character went out in such an anticlimactic way in Endgame, but Pugh is a fantastic choice to replace her.
Yelena has such a great combination of heart and deadpan humor (which also made her one of the best parts of the underrated Disney+ series Hawkeye) that I could totally see her becoming a central figure in MCU installments to come. The same goes for Harbour, who demonstrates adorable father-daughter chemistry with Pugh. They were the highlights of 2021’s otherwise lackluster Black Widow, so it’s great to see them lovingly bicker again.
Stan (a newly minted Oscar nominee) could play Bucky in his sleep at this point, so it’s nice to see him still trying to find new aspects of the character to focus on. He’s gone from villain to antihero to mentor to congressman(!) over the last decade, which proves his best friend Steve Rogers’ faith in him wasn’t misplaced. He’s one of the MCU’s only remaining links to its glory days, so I hope he sticks around for a while.
Russell and John-Kamen are also solid, getting a chance to flesh out characters who didn’t get much of a chance to earn audience goodwill in their previous entries. However, the work from Louis-Dreyfus and Pullman (playing someone named Bob yet again, like his pilot in Top Gun: Maverick) might stand out the most. The former clearly relishes the chance to play an over-the-top sleazy villain, while the latter injects pathos into a complicated character who could’ve been perplexing or flat-out insulting if portrayed the wrong way.
I don’t know if Thunderbolts* will persuade burned-out former MCU fans to return to theaters, but hopefully folks will give it a chance. If nothing else, I need it to do well in order to convince Marvel this is the kind of storytelling longtime viewers are interested in, rather than the bland CGI overload we’ve mostly gotten since Endgame.
Thunderbolts* is rated PG-13 for strong language, violence, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references. Opens in theaters on May 2.
Grade: B+
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
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