It’s no secret that Marvel has been in a skid for a couple of years now, churning out subpar films that increasingly disinterest audiences, but even before that, when Marvel was at the height of their cultural power, it was a common acknowledgment that Marvel movies are rarely about anything. It’s what made Black Panther such a shock to the system—here is a Marvel movie, what we all agree is the fast food of cinema—that is actually about something, that evinces a point of view and has a unique perspective.
Thunderbolts*, the latest Marvel movie, is similarly unique, a Marvel movie that is about something, with a distinct point of view. In another way, though, it feels like a throwback to peak Marvel, when the company could be counted on to turn out competently made, reliably entertaining films.
Thunderbolts* picks up a little more than a year after the events of Avengers: Endgame—I no longer know where we are in the MCU timeline and I don’t care—with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) going through the motions as a secretive operator working for the morally bankrupt CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfus, calculating her performance somewhere between Selina Meyer and Nick Fury). Missing her sister, the late Natasha Romanoff, and maybe a little bit inspired by her, Yelena asks for a more “public facing” role. Val promises her just that, after “one more job”. You’ve seen movies, you know how “one more job” goes.
Sent to kill Ava Starr, aka Ghost from the Ant-Man movies (played by Hannah John-Kamen), Yelena quickly puts together that Val set up her various stray operatives to destroy each other before being literally incinerated along with the last of the evidence from a top secret project gone wrong. Thunderbolts*, written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo from a story by Pearson, is very economical in its storytelling. Within twenty minutes misfits and rejects from all corners of the MCU are united in trying to survive Val’s machinations to kill them.
Yelena and Ava are joined by John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the failed replacement Captain America who did a public murder and got fired; Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), the Red Guardian, Yelena’s estranged Soviet pseudo-father; and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Captain America’s erstwhile bestie who is, for some reason that is equal parts unfathomable and idiotic, now a congressman. Also hanging around is Bob (Lewis Pullman), a mysterious newcomer with mysterious powers who is maybe probably definitely related to Val’s failed experiment.
Thunderbolts* does all the usual Marvel stuff well, most notably above-average action. Most of these characters are “punch and shoot” types, so there are a lot of good fisticuffs. There’s a cool car chase sequence, a couple of good explosions, and in one climactic moment, the Thunderbolts come together to help civilians in a way that actually feels creative and uplifting. But Thunderbolts* isn’t quite as advertised, it’s considerably darker and less banter-y than we’ve come to expect from quip-a-minute Marvel. Director Jake Schreier loads the visuals with meaning, and he draws from this talented ensemble a couple of spectacular performances.
Florence Pugh serves as the heart of the film, as Yelena is sunk into depression and adrift in life. Schreier points his camera at Pugh leaves it, letting her fill the frame with her sheer presence and the power of a focused performance. This is easily one of the best performances ever given in a Marvel movie, frankly, the only close competition Pugh has is Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man. It helps that Thunderbolts* is well written, that Yelena’s character arc is grounded thematically and that her journey drives the plot, and not the other way around. Schreier and Pugh are both unafraid to fill the screen with darkness—literally, in the case of the villain, who blots out life like an ink spill—and the result is a rich performance that anchors Thunderbolts* in something deep and true and relatable.
Paired with Pugh is Lewis Pullman, giving a triple performance that provides everything from humor to pathos to seriously creepy vibes. He has to play the normie sucked up in the wake of the antiheroes, a superhero, and a supervillain, and Pullman nails all three roles. Bob is immediately likeable, in over his head and somehow suggestive of a wet kitten Yelena is rescuing from the rain. As Sentry, a manufactured superhero persona, he’s cheesy and narcissistic, exactly as unlikeable as Bob is likeable. And as the villainous Void, he’s genuinely creepy, with a cool, minimalist character design that becomes more upsetting the longer you look at him.
The problem is that Bob is depressed, too, he’s also a recovering addict and he has multiple mental health diagnoses. Bob was never supposed to be “the one”, but as the sole survivor of Val’s unethical testing, he is it, the “golden hero of humanity” Val dreams of controlling as her very own on-call Avenger. Thunderbolts* harks back to Captain America: The First Avenger, and the warning implicit in creating a supersoldier—what you put in is what you get out. Bob was unstable going in, he’s unstable and superpowered coming out.
And he’s SO powerful the Thunderbolts have no hope of fighting him, which is where the film really shines. The final third of Thunderbolts* isn’t the typical city-destroying battle, it is instead an allegorical battle to overcome depression. Thunderbolts* falls into the “friendship is magic” sub-genre of superhero movies, but it does it with a wry sense of humor and a sincerity that doesn’t overpromise what friendship can do. It can’t cure depression, it can’t fix the past, it can’t erase mistakes made. But it CAN lighten the load, even just a little bit, and sometimes, that is all you need.
Thunderbolts* isn’t romantic about mental health struggles, suffering does not make these characters noble heroes, and just because they keep trying doesn’t mean they always win. But Thunderbolts* is oddly appealing in the way it embraces these losers, and the sincerity of its messaging. It’s been a long time since a Marvel movie has been about something, and while Thunderbolts* still services the larger MCU machine, it is also about something. Yelena, Bob, and the others are just trying to put one foot in front of the other, pushing forward in the hopes of finding something to hang onto when life feels bleak and unlivable. It’s not a saccharine promise of better days ahead, just encouragement that there are more days ahead.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please call 988 in the US and Canada.
Thunderbolts* is now playing exclusively in theaters.
