9/10
Marvel has experienced a decline in viewership and box office success since the retirement of the original six Avengers as main protagonists, but Thunderbolts* has created excitement around phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The story follows Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), as CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) sends her on a mission to kill a potential thief within de Fontaine’s secret vault. While on the mission, Yelena encounters John Walker (Wyatt Russell), also known as U.S. Agent, who was sent on the same mission to kill Yelena. The two of them are surprised by Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen)—first introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp—as Ghost, who can phase through space and time, who has been sent to kill Walker.
The three quickly realize that de Fontaine has set them up in an attempt to cut all loose ends of Project Sentry, her attempt to create an all-powerful hero to take the place of the missing Avengers.
De Fontaine traps the three assassins in her vault, which has been rigged to become an incinerator, forcing them to work together to make it out alive. While rushing to figure their way out, they find a random man also in the vault, Bob (Lewis Pullman), who has no memory of how he ended up there.
Once the four successfully escape the vault, they lose Bob to de Fontaine and are taken in by Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who is bringing them to testify against de Fontaine. Quickly, it is revealed that Bob is the success of the Sentry project with god-like power. He turns against the group, now deemed the Thunderbolts.
The film diverged from typical Marvel movies with director Jake Schreier choosing to depict the regret, anguish, and guilt that heroes live with. While undoubtedly a complex and difficult task, the raw and honest portrayal of depression through Yelena, Walker, and Bob was touching and authentic.
Throughout the movie, Yelena struggles with the death of her sister in Avengers: Endgame and the weight of her past actions as an assassin. To cope, Yelena throws herself into her work and resorts to drinking when the jobs are done. Pugh’s acting brings to life the grief and emptiness that so many everyday people face.
Russell also gut-wrenchingly represents the familial issues Walker deals with after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he mistakenly murdered someone. Walker’s memories of neglecting his child while distracted by online hate for his actions highlight how deeply depression can affect those closest to us. The heartbreaking cinematography sheds light on the loneliness that often accompanies depression, even when one is surrounded by love.
While these two characters barely hold on, Bob is also the epitome of a broken, emotional wreck. Bob was discovered for the Sentry project as a test subject when he was roaming the streets of Malaysia, looking for more drugs to fuel his meth addiction.
Bob’s emotional fragility is amplified tenfold during the creation of Sentry, making him a ticking time bomb. Once Sentry turns against everyone in the final battle, he plunges New York City into darkness, sending every person into a highlight reel of their darkest memories and moments. Yelena fights through the darkness, searching for Bob, in an attempt to save him from himself.
In the maze of memories, Yelena finds Bob huddled up in the attic of his childhood home, with his parents and his younger self fighting downstairs. In this scene, both Pugh and Pullman bring the realities of depression to light with masterful elegance. Yelena assures Bob that there is always a way out; he just needs someone to have his back. The scene is raw and honest, and accurately represents these struggles, which is rare for Marvel.
As Bob attempts to eliminate Sentry, Sentry’s darkness starts seeping into him, representing the fall into depression. As Bob slowly breaks, Yelena breaks free of the restraints Sentry has pinned on the rest of the Thunderbolts and sprints to Bob, wrapping him in a hug and assuring him that he is not alone in the world. The rest of the Thunderbolts join in to comfort Bob, successfully rescuing him and the rest of New York from the depressive episode.
While the fight scene can’t precisely be deemed an actual superhero fight scene, it represents the support everyone needs when fighting their own battles.
The movie expertly tackles the void of mental health struggles but also brings in some much-needed humor through characters like Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), Yelena’s father, as the Red Guardian. Pugh and Harbour bring the classic father-daughter relationship to the big screen, highlighting a teen-like sense of embarrassment when Alexei arrives in his beat-up limo for a very late rescue attempt of his daughter.
The humorous banter between the Thunderbolts creates a vital balance to the intense themes of mental health throughout the movie, while Harbour’s acting restores the Marvel humor the original movies were so beloved for.
Although the Thunderbolts aren’t the heroes fans asked for, they are the heroes they needed. Marvel has taken a hit since the contracts of the original six expired, but Avengers: Doomsday, set to release May 1, 2026, has a solid crew of heroes potentially involved, giving fans hope for the future of the MCU.
