Thunderbolts (2025)
Directed by: Jake Schreier
Premise: Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A team of antiheroes working for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) discover they have been betrayed as part of a coverup. They form a team to survive.
What Works: The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in a rebuilding phase. After reaching its organic conclusion with the extraordinarily successful Avengers: Endgame, the series has wobbled with a few good entries (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) offset by some bad ones (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and a general lack of direction or inspiration. This franchise has been creatively stuck but recent films have tried to reestablish the momentum and Thunderbolts is successful in part because it demonstrates an understanding of what this genre represents. One of the key appeals of superheroes is the way that they dramatize a fantasy of benevolent power. But contemporary viewers are acutely aware that power is not innocent especially when it is married to politics. Filmmakers in this genre have tried to address that issue and Thunderbolts is one of the better examples. Yelena (Florence Pugh) has grown weary of assassination missions and wants more for herself. This crew of super-antiheroes recognize that they are tools for morally ambivalent power structures but they make a choice to band together and do something good. Thunderbolts puts the heroism back in the superhero movie and that uplifts the film and makes the action feel meaningful. Thunderbolts is also about depression and existential angst which is visualized compellingly. Bob (Lewis Pullman) is an experimental test subject who later becomes a supervillain that is despair incarnate. The movie is suffused with humanity both in its darkness but also in its hope. One of the best aspects of Thunderbolts is the relationship between Yalena and her father (David Harbour). The two of them are enjoyable to watch and very funny. Thunderbolts balances seriousness and humor in a way that’s humanizing. These are the qualities that made the MCU so popular in the first place and hopefully this is a sign that the franchise is back on track.
What Doesn’t: Thunderbolts is a team up movie and while these characters do eventually cohere as a squad, the filmmakers don’t balance the characterizations and screentime. The main focus of Thunderbolts is on Yelena and her discontent with her life. Yelena’s story is compelling but the filmmakers don’t give the other characters enough story of their own. Ghost and John Walker (Hannah John-Kamen and Wyatt Russell) were introduced in movies and television shows that were released years ago and these characters haven’t been heard from since.Compare Thunderbolts to 2012’s The Avengers which came after Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk had their own individual adventures. Thunderbolts doesn’t have the accumulated dramatic weight of the better Avengers films because it isn’t built on an equivalent foundation.
Bottom Line: Thunderbolts is one of the better films in the MCU especially in the post-Endgame era. It balances the fun of this genre with some real human moments while setting up a team that has the potential to yield some interesting future stories.
Episode: #1048 (May 18, 2025)