Review: Thunderbolts* is a refreshing return to peak Marvel form
“You can’t out-run the emptiness”
That weird asterisk in the title makes sense once the credits roll, but we’re not gonna spoil it for you.
It looks like Marvel has another critical and box office hit on its hands—and deservedly so—with Thunderbolts*, a follow-up of sorts to 2021’s Black Widow and the final film in the MCU’s Phase Five.
Yes, the asterisk is part of the title. Yes, I found that choice inexplicable when it was first announced. And yes, having seen the film, the asterisk makes perfect sense now as a well-timed joke. I won’t spill the beans because that would spoil the fun. Instead, I’ll simply say that Thunderbolts* is a refreshing return to peak Marvel form: well-paced, witty, and action-packed with enough heart to ensure you care about the characters.
(Some spoilers below.)
It’s basically the MCU’s version of The Suicide Squad (2021) with less over-the-top R-rated violence. In fact, that film’s director, James Gunn, was originally attached to direct Thunderbolts* but bowed out because he felt the projects were just too similar. Yet the PG-13 film definitely boasts that irreverent Gunn sensibility, with a vibe on par with the director’s delightful Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Thunderbolts* might not reach the spectacular box office heights of last year’s R-rated Deadpool and Wolverine, but so far I’m optimistic about the MCU’s future.
Black Widow introduced us to Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) backstory as a child recruited for training as an elite assassin, along with her adoptive sister (and equally lethal assassin) Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Thunderbolts* finds Yelena working as hired mercenary for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but she’s still grieving the loss of Natasha and her heart just isn’t in.
Yelena’s existential ennui leads her to seek out her adoptive father, Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour), the Russian super soldier counterpart to Captain America. He’s not doing much better, working as a limo driver and living off takeout, and tells Yelena that Natasha found the secret to fulfillment: be a superhero.
(WARNING: A couple of significant character spoilers below the galleries.)
Florence Pugh reprises her Black Widow role as Yelena Belova.
Marvel Studios
That’s a bridge too far for the cynical Yelena but she does inform Valentina that she’s retiring. Valentina asks her to do one last covert mission to take out an enemy operative at a warehouse and destroy the contents. But when Yelena arrives, she’s immediately attacked by super soldier John Walker (Wyatt Russell): briefly Captain America (cf: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) but now going by U.S. Agent and also working for Valentina.
Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko)—introduced in Black Widow—and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), aka Ava Starr—introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)—soon join the fight. They also find an awkward, nebbishy man in hospital PJs named Bob (Lewis Pullman) who can’t remember anything about how he ended up there—just a vague sense that something pretty bad happened.
It soon becomes clear Valentina has set a trap, hoping they will all kill each other and be destroyed along with a ton of incriminating evidence. The stakes are high for Valentina, who is facing impeachment by Congress for her misdeeds.
But the unexpected happens. Apart from one fatality—RIP Taskmaster, who deserved a better end—Yelena, Wyatt, and Ghost decide to work together to escape, with an unexpected assist from Bob, who turns out to have superpowers of his own. Red Guardian shows up at a tight moment to give them a ride in his not-so-bullet-proof limo. Add Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)—now a member of Congress representing Brooklyn—and you’ve got a team that just might be able to take down Valentina. Maybe. They took their name from Yelena’s childhood sports team who never won a single game. So maybe not
Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour) drives a not-so-bullet-proof limo.
Marvel Studios
People will no doubt have their quibbles, but there’s not much to criticize in Thunderbolts*; it’s top-notch pure entertainment. I confess to often finding the extended action sequences in many Marvel movies (particularly the more recent ones) exhausting and repetitive, and only loosely tied to what is more often than not a muddled, incoherent plot (I’m looking at you, The Marvels).
That’s not the case with Thunderbolts*; the 126-minute run time flew by. It’s well-plotted with a witty, clever script that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank, Beef) expertly balances the action sequences with well-placed bantering wisecracks and quieter introspective moments that serve to actually develop the characters, each of whom has their inner demons and plenty of red in their respective ledgers. And Schreier has an incredibly talented cast to work with, all of whom give stellar performances—including Lewis Pullman as Bob, a newcomer to the MCU.
This is very much an ensemble cast, but Pugh’s Yelena is the film”s anchor and emotional core. She and Bob share an early bonding moment over their respective inner voids, and the subtext rapidly becomes text when Bob morphs into the Void—the invincible dark side of Valentina’s Sentry, intended to be a superhero to replace the Avengers. Instead, he casts darkness over New York City, turning residents into literal shadows. That’s an over-arching theme of the film: confronting the source(s) of one’s inner darkness and depression, in hopes of finding a kind of reluctant redemption. (“It was always a parable for mental health,” Schreier recently told Variety.)
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters. We won’t spoil the amusing post-credits scene either, except to say it garnered loud audience cheers and nicely tees up The Fantastic Four: First Steps coming to theaters this July.
Final trailer for Thunderbolts*.
Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban.
