Florence Pugh and a formidable third act elevate Thunderbolts far past the latest Marvel movies.

Marvel isn’t a lot a effectively-oiled machine as it’s a manufacturing unit line nowadays. And, for probably the most half, the consequence has been diminishing returns since Avengers: Endgame (although, actually, Infinity Conflict was the final nice Marvel movie.) The bragged about, ever-increasing world and the worlds inside worlds has dominated the narrative as filmmakers should bend backward and break to suit their particular person tales right into a beforehand manufactured complete. That is nonetheless the case with the MCU’s newest, the scrappy Thunderbolts, directed by Jake Schreier. The exposition-heavy intro nonetheless bleeds into the primary two-thirds of the movie and callbacks that curb the main target. However the, blessedly, character-pushed drama offers the movie an sudden coronary heart with a breathless ultimate act.

Thunderbolts is a who’s who of forgotten characters of the newest MCU act. There are these we care about, corresponding to Yelena (Florence Pugh) who debuted in 2021’s Black Widow and made a noteworthy look in Hawkeye. Bucky/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) can be there although relegated to help work as Stan sleepily works via effectively-tread character beats (a multitude of a person who’s older than he appears to be like and nonetheless on the lookout for function.) A tier down is David Harbour’s loud however effectively-which means Alexei Shostakov / Crimson Guardian, Yelena’s just lately absent father. On the backside rung, there’s Ava/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from Ant-Man and the Wasp and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

An unlikely group comes collectively, and it primarily works.

The cynicism almost wins out when trying on the solid of characters and questioning how the writing will craft an inexpensive circumstance the place this group of forgettable anti-heroes and villains will develop into worthy of their movie. Thunderbolts manages it, although it takes a while and the arrival of a brand new universe character, Bob (Lewis Pullman), to promote us why. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) orchestrates a loss of life entice that goes array in her makes an attempt to bury her misdoings. Through the unlikely standoff, the unconventional antiheroes be part of forces to embark on a harmful mission that forces them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

Thunderbolts suffers below the burden of the studio’s expanded universe for many of its runtime. Exposition dumps, callbacks, and clumsy winks to the viewers do little to reduce that load. The script by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo struggles to generate laughter (there could possibly be a category taught on the damaging results of Joss Whedon’s early Avengers scripts and the way they’ve negatively reverberated all through the MCU.) As an alternative, the movie finds its magic elsewhere. Specifically, in (most of) the performances, some sensible struggle sequences, and, most significantly, the darkness.

Marvel remembers to place the characters first.

For the primary time in ages, a Marvel movie prioritizes characters over spectacle. And these characters are going via it. We first see Yelena as she takes a yawning free fall off of one of many tallest towers on the planet earlier than sleepwalking her means via a hallway brawl, harking back to our first look of Black Widow. She’s feeling empty and in want of a brand new route in life as she aimlessly takes on assignments. Haunted by her previous and stricken by stifling loneliness, the newest mission with these misfits injects her with a protracted-lacking vitality. She’ll stay and assist others to take action as effectively.

That is the place the opposite MVP apart from Pugh is available in with Bob, whose potential reaches additional than his title and shy demeanor could counsel. He’s fast to place himself within the line of fireside and switch himself over, and it’s instantly clear this isn’t an indication of altruism. It’s not a lot that he needs to guard others as a result of he is aware of he can (he can’t, a minimum of not in the beginning.) As an alternative, it’s as a result of he so clearly sees his life as an afterthought. Pugh and Pullman are improbable collectively as Yelena tries to assign Bob’s value to provide him a lifeline to assist drag himself out of the darkness.

And it’s that darkness the place Marvel finds a few of its most impressively haunting sequences so far. Because the darkness spools round New York Metropolis, forsaking shadows the place civilians as soon as stood, the movie takes a quieter, subdued strategy to the doomsday risk. It’s not an alien invasion, a petty huge dangerous, or a laser beam barreling (once more) from the sky. It’s a person whose poor psychological well being was manipulated after which weaponized and whose loneliness doesn’t simply eat him however all who encompass him.

The underside line.

It’s hardly delicate, nevertheless it doesn’t must be.  These characters have suffered enormously both by the hands of others or the folly of their egos. Their baggage is cumbersome, and it is sensible that Thunderbolts would search to visualise it. The route exhibits us how human these characters are, preferring a floor-stage strategy and taking within the terror and carnage whereas trying up. The rating composed by the band Son Lux (answerable for the music on All the pieces All over the place All At As soon as) additionally helps bolster the uneasy sense of melancholy. It’s a film about would-be superheroes who embrace the fatigue of the potential title and the highlight that comes with it.

It’s a disgrace that not each character will get the identical time to shine. Ghost is usually an afterthought as she throws out barbs and reactions, primarily to John Walker. And Stan doesn’t even attempt to infuse Bucky with any life. Why would he contemplating the hopelessly unserious narrative they’ve written him into. And whereas Harbour makes a meal of 1 essential sequence between him and Pugh, he’s typically a sufferer of the movie’s worst gags.

Nevertheless, Pugh is such a star, and Pullman is so efficient that the ending packs a wallop regardless. Thunderbolts succeeds regardless of Marvel’s in-built hurdles and its uneven script. The movie remembers that our love of superheroes doesn’t stem from what these overpowered beings can do however what these people who develop into icons overcame to earn the title.

Thunderbolts is out now in theaters. Watch the trailer below. 

Photos courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 MARVEL.