The Sadvengers

Over the weekend, Disney held a D23 fan event in Brazil, which included releasing two new trailers for the 2025 Marvel movies, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. 

Let’s start with Brave New World. 

 

First of all, this looks better than the first trailer. Like physically, it looks more polished. Although the half-assed font on the “Brave New World” key art is giving Papyrus:

https://x.com/DuckySwiss/status/1855365546365133046

This trailer finally gives us a better look at Shira Haas as Israeli superhero Sabra, who is being reframed in the MCU as a former Black Widow turned US government official. I don’t think there is any way to introduce an Israeli character in a mainstream comic book movie right now that won’t be a total sh-tshow, but in the comics, Sabra is a Mossad agent, and that has been changed for the movie. Marvel actually announced that they intended to reimagine Sabra for the big screen back in 2022, but it doesn’t matter, for numerous reasons not least of which is the ongoing conflict in Gaza, some people are calling for a boycott of the film.

As for the rest of the film, they’re clearly trying to invoke a Winter Soldier vibe with this trailer, to remind everyone of the best Captain America movie, and I like the Manchurian Candidate setup for Isaiah Washington, as played by Carl Lumbly, who was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But I’m still not sold. It just looks…sort of boring. Red Hulk does nothing for me, and the fact that they’ve given up trying to hide that Harrison Ford is going to Hulk out means there is some concern about this film’s prospects, and they’re working really hard to get people excited about it. For me, Brave New World already feels a little bit like a chore, like the kind of Marvel movie I would skip if I wasn’t going to review it. 

Thunderbolts*, however, does NOT feel like a chore. Thunderbolts* looks like a BLAST.

 

And Marvel CLEARLY knows where their 2025 bread is going to be buttered, because they gave their second-string character team-up movie the super-sized trailer, not Captain America. My prediction: Marvel eats sh-t in February with Brave New World, only to come roaring back in May with Thunderbolts*.

Also, and credit to Meghan O’Keefe from Decider for pointing this out to me, but think back to The Avengers trailer from 2012, how brightly colored the characters are, how upbeat it feels, even for an action movie about an alien invasion. 2012 was the height of the Obama era, it feels like an entirely different world now, and the OG Avengers almost seem quaint, with their primary colors, quips, and sunshine action scenes.

The Thunderbolts, though, look like a superhero team for our current, conflicted, dare I say depressed times. Yelena Belova and John Walker are explicitly framed as going through a moment of self-doubt and aimlessness. Bucky Barnes is a character we already know struggles with a boatload of PTSD and self-recrimination. These are not uplifting characters, they’re sad and unsure and angry and looking for meaning in a world that seems bleak. Never mind Bob, a character who is explicitly framed within a mental health context in the comics. Even if they tweak his backstory for the movie, Bob isn’t Bob if he isn’t having some mental health issues, and they’re introducing him in the context of a group of (anti)heroes questioning their lives and place in the world.

Which makes me think Thunderbolts* is very much going to be about these issues; that as fun and cool as it looks, the emotional core will be something to do with figuring out how to live in a conflicted, depressing world. If they get that right, then Thunderbolts* could really resonate as a superhero super-team for now, just as the OG Avengers did for the Obama era. And that’s really what Marvel needs, they need characters that connect with audiences in a big way. They haven’t really managed that in the last five years, but Thunderbolts* looks promising. They look like the Sadvengers, superheroes for now—a little less heroic, less upbeat, but determined to do better anyway. 

Also, “Thunderbolts” is CLEARLY not their name by the end of the movie. If there was any doubt, the editing of the title card in this trailer makes it clear they’re going to change their name. My guess? These are the Dark Avengers, the not-so-heroic heroes for our darker times. 

Unfortunately we don't have access to photos from the event, but here is Anthony Mackie arriving in Brazil on Friday.