How do you follow the Avengers? Simple according to Marvel. Just put together a ragtag bunch of anti-heroes culled from past franchise entries and turn them into a not-ready-for-primetime fighting team forced to save America and -PRESTO – you have the Thunderbolts but with a, uh, asterisk in the title which cheekily means the Avengers we know and love and miss just weren’t available for superheroics this time around.
Actually by putting that * in the title Marvel lets us instantly know they are in on the joke, but in giving these supporting players from past movies like Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Falcon & The Winter Soldier, and most notably Black Widow, they have high hopes to develop something seen as much more than just a 99 Cent Store version of the crown jewel of the Marvel Universe. As such this origin story of how the Thuderbolts came to be manages to stand on its own as a more character-driven, humorous, and psychological spin on the formula that has worked so well for Disney’s money printing subsidiary in the past.
It all starts with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), torn with still grappling with her past as the adoptive sister of Black Widow, jumping off the world’s second tallest building and living to tell the tale. She is recruited by CIA head and OXE Group’s villainous Valetina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to perform a simple assignment and go into the OXE vault to hunt down an adversary causing trouble. Turns out it is a set up when disgraced John Walker (Wyatt Russell) of Falcon And The Winter Soldier fame, Ghost aka Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) of Ant-Man, and Taskmaster aka Antonia (Olga Kurylenka decked out in a new suit) also turn up for a pop-up superhero fight that is really a trap to get rid of them all. Into this mayhem comes a pajama clad newcomer, the nerdy seemingly clueless Bob aka Robert Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) who has somehow stumbled in from a mysterious medical procedure he has just endured and can’t understand what he is doing with all these masked marvels. Do they all eventually get out of there? Of course, and the game is on.
Joining up will be good old Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who is now a freshman congressman determined to fight the baddies (including Valentina) from the inside but like MIchael in Godfather 3 is pulled back in just when he thought he was out, and the wild card Alexei (David Harbour) picking up some of the group in his Red Guardian car as they are chased by imposing tanks down a highway.
Valentina, set on controlling the government her way, now has to deal with this damaged group of throwaway superhero wannabes, and may have her own secret weapon in the aforementioned Bob and that medical procedure which has turned him into an imposing presence that is capable of more destruction and harm than all of these newly-coined Thunderbolts combined. When Val introduces her “creation” complete with fancy superhero suit he demonstrates on them just how lethal his newfound powers can be. However, like each of them, Bob now dubbed Sentry is every bit as troubled and still grateful for having been saved in the vault.
We will stop there because this is all just an intriguing set up for the tight two hour film’s second half and the destruction of New York City among other things. Director Jack Schreier who was imported from the Netflix limited series Beef, is more interested in the “human” elements here than a lot of fancy CGI trickery Marvel has been so fond of in the past, and so there is much to uncover as this group of anti-heroes, not seeing themselves as “heroes” at all, deal with issues of trust, betrayal, and just who they really are. It is a smart and amusing script by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo an origin story inspired of course by the 1997 comic but quite different and one that could go to intriguing places in future installments and the already announced new editions of the Avengers franchise. The end credits promise a return of course but by what name? Hmmmmm.
Fortunately in pure Hollywood fashion these past supporting stars rise to the occasion and get their chance to shine. Chief among them is Pugh, bringing real gravitas to Yelena in a darker portrayal than what she did in Black Widow. Stan finds new ways into Bucky/Winter Soldier now on his 10th go-round with the character, Russell really gets much to do here in a comeback for John Walker, as do Kurylenka and John-Kamen. Harbour, as he did in Black Widow, is here mostly for comic relief, relishing in his over-the-top antics, and newcomer to the franchise Pullman makes the most of a nerd-turned-dangerous-superhero, or antihero as all of them really are. He is a guy who is not quite comfortable in the suit. How he will fit in eventually is one of the most interesting aspects of this new-age Thunderbolts. Also new to Marvel is the character of Mel, Valentina’s assistant who is working both sides, and nicely played by Geraldine Viswanathan. As for Louis-Dreyfus, there is just a touch of Selina in her sly portrayal of a woman with a thirst for power. The blonde streak in her hair also uncannily makes her look like Louis-Dreyfus has gone back to her SNL self to spoof current U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, however this was in the can long before Gabbard got the job, so this character touch seems pretty prescient especially in the scene where she is testifying to congress just as Gabbard recently did over Signalgate.
Producer of course is Kevin Feige.
Title: Thunderbolts*
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios
Release Date: May 2, 2025
Director: Jack Schreier
Screenplay: Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenka, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanthan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Running Time: 2 hours and 6 Minutes
Rating: PG13
