Thunderbolts* is evidence that there’s still something worth exploring in this comics-based cinematic juggernaut. It’s gratifying to watch general audiences see the spark that’s still there. If we’re lucky, the spark can reignite the flame for Marvel Studios.

Nick Fury once said: “There was an idea… The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles that we never could.” In 2012, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios made a gamble to put together B-level heroes  (at the time) that were only just started to get recognition due to recent solo movies. That gamble was Marvel’s The Avengers, and with it, a cinematic universe was established. It’s easy to look back and believe this was guaranteed to work, no risk involved. But that’s not true. How can get you get general audiences with little comics background to come in and connect with characters they might have heard of? How can you get audiences to buy into a world where gods, super soldiers, and assassins need to work together to save New York City? Better yet– how can you convince audiences that you can do it again thirteen years later?

Enter Thunderbolts*. Set well into a post-Avengers: Endgame world, director Jake Schreier brings together an unlikely group of Marvel rejects– Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Ava Starr, and Alexei Shostakov– to become more than the sum of their parts. There have been team-up movies before, as well as found families established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but none of them have been able to capture the emotional depth of care between this group of losers. Yes, it’s worth noting Guardians of the Galaxy was successful in creating a found family between a galactic group of a–holes, but that was their first Marvel outing together. Every member of the Thunderbolts (minus Bob) has been introduced in previous Marvel project. We haven’t seen Ghost since Ant-Man and the Wasp since 2018! Despite this, the chemistry and the relationship dynamics between each of these characters transformed a group of losers into a family of heroes worth believing in.

Unlike their moody companions in the superhero space, DC Studios, Marvel movies are known for their humor. The quippy comedy that Iron Man defined in 2008 finds it way in most Marvel movies that have followed in its footsteps. For as heavy as Thunderbolts* eventually gets, it’s not without a lack of humor. While Florence Pugh and Hannah John-Kamen get their sarcastic quips in, it’s Wyatt Russell and David Harbour that bring some of the best comedic beats to Thunderbolts*. Russell’s John Walker starts as arrogant as ever after his fall from grace in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and much of cocky humor is ever present once he meets Yelena, Ghost, and Taskmaster in Valentina’s vault. From his smug expressions to his dry delivery, Russell nails the familiar humor Marvel fans know and mostly love. This isn’t to say that Russell is just serving a comedic purpose. When Bucky calls John out for his wife and son walking out on him, John and Yelena exchange a heartbreaking look. John Walker’s emotional moments and character arc would not work without Russell bringing this level of depth to him.

With Red Guardian, Harbour taps into Alexei as the cringey, clueless, yet well-meaning father figure that’s hard not to love. When does drive in to save Yelena, his entrance evokes familiar experiences of parents accidentally embarrassing their children in front of their friends. There’s an enthusiasm to Red Guardian that’s admirable, despite resorting himself to becoming a limo driver who dreams of being on a Wheaties box. It would’ve been so easy to overdo Alexei’s brand of humor, and thankfully, his comedic moments never overstay their welcome, nor do they undercut the heavier scenes.

Speaking of heavy themes, let’s talk about mental health. Early Phase 4 projects explored themes of grief, loneliness, and PTSD following the ramifications of Thanos’ snap and The Blip that brought half the universe back. It’s been a while since these heavier themes have been examined in the MCU, especially in recent movies like Captain America: Brave New World and Deadpool & Wolverine. However, the toll on characters like Yelena and John Walker have a cost. Depression and anxiety are an epidemic in our society, which hasn’t let up since COVID-19 lockdowns. We’ve never been more connected, thanks to social media, but we’re still just as isolated and alone, carrying our baggage and fighting unseen battles. We long to be seen, to be known, to be understood, and to be accepted as we are. In an era of big budget movie franchises that seemingly get churned out one after the next, Thunderbolts* radically stands out from the rest because it decided to carefully examine the nuances of mental health (and did it without making it a punchline).

Every member of the Thunderbolts has something they’re carrying. Yelena is depressed and feels purposeless. John is ashamed of his negligence as a father. Alexei still lives in the past and has delusions of grandeur. The most well-adjusted of the group is Bucky Barnes, which is wild considering everything he has experienced in the MCU since his debut in 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger. Despite their baggage, it takes meeting Lewis Pullman’s Bob for each of them to begin healing. 

After surviving physical and emotional abuse from his parents, Bob drifted through the world looking for meaning and connection. There wasn’t enough drugs to numb the pain he kept feeling so when he was approached about an experimental project that could make him something more, he jumps at the opportunity. Through this, Sentry, and by extension The Void, was born. In his performance, Pullman captures the awkward sweet nature of Bob, the attempted confidence of Sentry, and the despondent coldness of The Void. 

The duality of Sentry and The Void through Lewis Pullman’s Bob was a smart choice for Thunderbolts* because it captures the nature of depression. There are good days where you feel like you can take on the world and then there are the days where it would just be easier to live in a loop of your absolute lowest moments. That’s what The Void does to New York. He traps people in their worst memories in an endless loop, just like him. It’s only when someone willingly steps into Bob’s pain that New York can be saved. 

Before I jump to Yelena, I want to highlight how the power of friendship is genuinely earned as a resolution. Depression isn’t cured when you kick it and demonize it, which Bob attempts to do when he punches The Void, unaware that the darkness was starting to consume him. The antidote to loneliness is community. The breakthrough in depression comes when you believe you’re not alone and there are people willing to meet you where you’re at it in it. Bob’s found family hugging him as he cries is a beautiful moment, magnified by the realization that every person there had also just relived their worst moments and needed that hug just as much he did. The only way out is through each other, and for a Marvel movie to communicate that without it being cheesy or unearned, it is special.

Yelena Belova is the beating heart of this movie. Thunderbolts* starts and ends with her… literally. It’s Yelena’s bored, vacant face we see before she dives off the roof a building at the start of the movie, and at the end, it’s her taking in the moment of being announced as an Avenger, filled with purpose and belonging. The journey to get there is one of the more grounded, honest performances I’ve seen in a Marvel movie. Florence Pugh is one of our best working actresses, never lacking in a performance. While many cheered as recent Best Actress winner Mikey Madison reportedly turned down a Star Wars movie, Pugh is the gleaming example of what you get with a high caliber actress in a big budget franchise with a good script. 

Yelena really hasn’t been able to move forward after Natasha’s death and reconciling with Clint Barton. She clocks herself in and out of jobs for Valentina, is haunted by her own darkness, drinks to numb the pain, and repeats it. Yelena isn’t really living. Over the course of the movie, she meets others who are as emotionally damaged as her and reconnects with her surrogate father; we also get flashbacks to one of her darkest memories from her time in the Red Room. 

After taking a beating from Sentry, Yelena is done fighting to be something she believes she isn’t: light. Alexei finds her and Yelena lashes out at him for not contacting her. It’s here that she finally breaks down and reveals how she believes she’s only known her darkness. This scene doesn’t work with the raw performances of Pugh and Harbour here– the crack in Pugh’s voice as she cries out “daddy,” the tender look of pride Harbour gives her as he recounts the spark he has seen and still sees in Yelena, and the restraint of trying to cut the tension with a joke. It’s healing moment for Yelena to be seen and known by Alexei, and that’s why she’s able to enter into Bob’s darkness to save him. She realizes the horrible advice she initially gave Bob (stuffing down the pain) isn’t enough. Avoidance and isolation won’t cure us. Community and empathy will. 

Thunderbolts* isn’t a perfect movie. The pacing lags in some areas, and there are characters that get underserved. I wish Ava and Bucky were given more, and by extension, Taskmaster before her unceremonious death. Despite this, Thunderbolts* (or should I say The New Avengers) broke through the noise of critics who spent years blaming the MCU for cinematic damage. Thunderbolts* is a reminder of why these Marvel movies were the main attraction throughout the 2010s. I don’t know if Fantastic Four: The First Steps or Avengers: Doomsday will hit the same heights as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but Thunderbolts* is evidence that there’s still something worth exploring in this comics-based cinematic juggernaut. As someone who has remained a fan of the MCU throughout the post-Endgame era, it’s gratifying to watch general audiences see the spark that’s still there. If we’re lucky, the spark can reignite the flame for Marvel Studios.

Grade: A-

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Visual Effects

Where to Watch: In Theaters