It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a Marvel fan. Since seventh grade, I have binged a good majority of the movies and have gotten invested in these fantastic characters brought to life from the comics. I have merch, lines, and cast moments ingrained into my brain, and I saw Avengers: Endgame in the theater three times!
However, even I can admit that, post-Endgame, Marvel’s biggest project and semi-conclusion to a majority of storylines that were introduced in the 10 years the studio has existed, there has been a lack of quality content. Don’t get me wrong, I liked The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3. But in my opinion, Marvel put out too much too fast and lost a lot of loyal fans by not spending enough time on their projects.
I say all this to preface that, much to everyone’s surprise (but not mine), Thunderbolts* proved to be Marvel’s most creative and thought-provoking film in years, and I had such a fun time experiencing this in the theater.
The film follows the unlikely team-up of pre-existing characters, most of them being anti-heroes: Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier), John Walker (former Captain America), Ava Starr (Ghost), and Alexei Shostakov (Red Guardian). This found family comes together to protect and figure out the mystery surrounding former test subject Bob Reynolds, all while evading evil businesswoman Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Something admirable and different about this movie from other projects is the focus on the characters and themes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of action and jokes to be found and I walked out of the theater enjoying it (the “cucumber, cucumber!” scene is comedy gold for anyone who’s seen it), but Thunderbolts* is pretty sad and deep, dealing with topics like depression and mental health in a very beautiful and effective way.
There are also a lot of practical filmmaking techniques in this movie — a style that differs from a typical MCU blockbuster. Real car stunts, real explosions, real sets, and actors doing their own stunts are just a few. Lastly, the way the villain looks involves some cool special effects tricks that make for a very engaging visual.
The cast and character dynamic here is fantastic. Everyone’s happy to be there and is having so much fun with each other. It’s refreshing to get a group like this, since we haven’t had a team like this since The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy.
While my darling Sebastian Stan was excellent in Thunderbolts*, the performance shoutouts here go to Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh, and Lewis Pullman. Russell’s John Walker was a character who purposefully gets on everyone’s nerves, and unlike his previous appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he’s much funnier and more enjoyable to watch. Pugh shines as Yelena, the unspoken main character of the film, giving a really emotional and layered performance.
However, the real breakout star is Lewis Pullman. He plays Bob, a character who is very complex emotionally and has a few sides to him that we are shown. Bob is hands down the most interesting character the MCU has had to offer in quite a while, and I’m excited to see what they do with him in the future.
I’m happy to say that Thunderbolts* has officially restored my faith in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and has risen in the ranks in my favorite superhero movies of all time!
Give it a watch on Disney+ now!
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