Thunderbolts*, 2025.
Directed by Jake Schreier.
Starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olga Kurylenko, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, Joshua Mikel, and Violet McGraw.
SYNOPSIS:
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s decades-long running existence can be attributed to the fact that, while each new installment is yet another superhero movie, the formula is molded to fit into a different subgenre, whether it be a heist, summer vacation comedy, sibling rivalry, martial arts action, and so forth. With that in mind, it was only inevitable that the franchise would intersect with the most recurring theme in modern-day films: trauma. Thankfully, in exploring that, Thunderbolts* also isn’t afraid to get dark, while taking these characters and their internalized pain as seriously as possible within an interconnected universe where movies change tones as much as they do genres.
It says a lot that, without revisiting the various films and TV shows the antiheroes at the center of Thunderbolts* are being pulled from, the material still resonates emotionally. That’s what sincerity, a solid script, and expressive performances can achieve. Director Jake Schreier and screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo also seem aware that the viewer base is burned out on that oversaturation that has led such theoretical re-watches to feel like homework (presumably with instruction from Marvel series overseer Kevin Feige who also seems to have finally figured out that cramming out projects at the speed of light is not for the best).
This means that the backstory to these antiheroes (and their associated films) is largely irrelevant; these are broken mercenaries, the majority of whom have committed terrible acts against their will, but first and foremost, are traumatized individuals. The film is more concerned with the loneliness, depression, sense of othering, and dark thoughts that come with navigating trauma daily. Thunderbolts* succeeds primarily because it uses these themes to connect with grounded, relatable human emotions, rather than solely expanding upon characters that some MCU viewers may have forgotten entirely.
It’s a rarity: a Marvel movie that the average person can enjoy without prior exposure to the franchise, as the film’s purpose and emotional core are rooted in real-life struggles. Here, it’s in the context of a superhero universe that is also taking the franchise a few steps forward after a series of forgettable movies that have seemingly served no purpose. However, a delicate balance is struck so that one doesn’t detract from the other.
Set to a stylish opening fight sequence, Thunderbolts* opens with Florence Pugh’s former Black Widow assassin turned mercenary Yelena Belova: narrating the monotonous nature of her existence, which is a cycle of performing shady cleanup work for Julia Louis-Dreyfus CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who is currently on trial for impeachment on grounds of inhumanely trying to develop new super soldiers. When a job is done, Yelena comes home, sulking and drowning her pain in alcohol, trying to block out traumatic childhood memories of her assassin training while reflecting on a strained relationship with her father, Alexei Shostakov, once the Russian supersoldier known as the Red Guardian (David Harbour), the answer to Captain America. More to the point, it taps into the existential frustrations of working any job only to come home and be alone with those dark thoughts.
Yelena feels that doing real superhero good work could be a nice change of pace, and is told she will be granted that request upon finishing one last job for de Fontaine. The mission involves eliminating any evidence that could be traced back to her during the impeachment trial, which means visiting a remote lab built into a mountaintop. Once she arrives, it turns out that, in a clever narrative and character setup, everyone who works with de Fontaine is there to assassinate one another while doing the same job.
This includes Wyatt Russell’s disgraced former temporary John Walker, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster (another Russian child soldier, previously seen in Black Widow), and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost (an antagonist I vaguely remember from one of the Ant-Man installments). Then, there is the mysterious presence of an ordinary individual named Bob (Lewis Pullman), presumably experimented on, and someone who turns out to be special. It’s also not long before Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier crashes the party, now a congressman looking to pin evidence on de Fontaine, inadvertently becoming the leader of these damaged misfits.
Except for John Walker being portrayed as overly goofy with no self-awareness compared to the grounded treatment he was given on the Falcon and Winter Soldier series (the film is forcing a jokey incompetence on him that doesn’t work when there are also dramatic flashbacks of him being a neglectful parent with a personal life in shambles), everyone here comes across as empathetic and redeemable, even if they might not be.
However, this smartly isn’t a story about redemption but confronting such demons. This is accomplished through a third act that presents itself as another generic “defeat the super villain and save the world” scenario, only to brilliantly morph into something psychological, visually inventive, unapologetically dark, and simultaneously exhilaratingly action-packed. It also features a visual motif of literal darkness that encompasses all of New York City. At one point, a member of the Thunderbolts* saves a young girl from danger (another part of the appeal here is the simplistic return of having people in costumes save humans within practical settings), only for that darkness to vanish her into thin air, as if these superheroes are being taunted that no matter how they change, there will never be seeing those heroes are Avengers.
At times, (especially during the first two-thirds), Thunderbolts* is still quippy and humorous in a mildly grating manner, not only like most Marvel films, but in a way that certainly doesn’t fit the bleaker material here. And while the heavier subject matter is appreciated, it is still admittedly broad with that aspect plugged into the Marvel formula. However, it also treats those themes with the delicacy they deserve, and diverges from that formula for the finale for something bolder and emotional. In doing so, Thunderbolts* becomes a phase entry that ends with earned anticipation for another story with these characters, and a solid anchor for the universe going forward.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
