Thunderbolts* (2025)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, May 02

PF-13 Running Time: 126 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Entertaining and engaging, Thunderbolts* takes the Marvel Universe into a different, introspective place when compared to previous films.

  • Florence Pugh is a treasure and should be protected at all costs.

  • The film has well-designed action sequences, impressive visual effects and sound, and lets you escape once again into a superhero universe.

NO

  • The somber tone and melancholy tendencies might turn off some more enthusiastic Marvel viewers.

  • Again fails to provide context for a few key characters, assuming (incorrectly) that most everyone watching is fully up-to-speed with the television, streaming, and cinematic elements that now comprise the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

  • Struggles at times with tonal shifts between comedy, action, and dramatic moments.


OUR REVIEW

Across 35 previous entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), we have seen superheroes and villains destroy each other with weapons, supernatural powers and superhuman strength and intellect, all through the miracle of movie magic. While heroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America have faced loss and sadness, the emotional baggage they feel is often temporary - and they almost always overcome their obstacles and save the day. 

Thunderbolts*, the 36th installment in the MCU, stays with those feelings. Here, characters wrestle with trauma, loneliness, and self-doubt. These are characters trying to understand their place in the world. One character even appears as a shadowy black entity who forces people to confront their darkest thoughts and deepest fears. 

This is not your garden variety Marvel movie. A cloud of melancholy hovers over the film as the MCU’s Phase Five comes to a close. Audiences may not be quite ready for that shift - especially as characters frequently vocalize their emotions. 

Call this the “emo” Marvel movie. 

Overall, this is intriguing - the idea that superheroes feel anxiety, depression, and doubt, like you and me. As other MCU films have dabbled with these themes, director Jake Schreier (Paper Towns, Robot & Frank) embraces the darker elements of these characters and the larger story being told. 

Marvel fans will recognize the main cast: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), surviving sister to the late Black Widow; John Walker (Wyatt Russell) a former Captain America now known as U.S. Agent; and a handful of other characters from other films or Marvel’s Disney+ series, including Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Yelena’s father, Red Guardian (David Harbour).

Initially, Yelena, Walker, Ghost, and Taskmaster are brought together - unknowingly - by current CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for a secret mission to a remote location. As Valentina faces impeachment hearings from Congress, she sends them to carry out a mission designed to clear the director’s name.

Once everyone is in the same location, a skittish guy named Bob (Lewis Pullman) is added to the mix. Clad in pajamas and struggling with amnesia, Bob has no idea how he got to the location as he last remembers preparing to take part in some type of a medical study. The impeachment hearings are overseen by the tenacious Congressman Gary (Wendell Pierce) and newly elected freshman senator Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the former Winter Soldier who soon finds himself pulled back into action and added to the makeshift crew.

Though the film is rather accessible, it assumes viewer familiarity with these characters and their connection to the MCU. Screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo lack consistency in getting viewers fully up to speed on the importance of these characters. Instead, they focus on emotion and melodrama. Here, anxiety feels like an unnamed villain, as does creeping self-doubt and shame. Yet somehow, whether through a few strong performances, impressive visual effects work, and a handful of exciting action sequences and stunt work, Thunderbolts* fights through the heaviness and becomes rather entertaining.

Pugh is terrific, conveying her feelings with sincerity and conviction as the film occasionally turns repetitive and on-the-nose. Pullman brings a likable, nervous charm to Bob, a character who pays off in unexpected ways. Geraldine Viswanathan, as Valentina’s assistant Mel, provides some great one-liners and comedic timing in working alongside Louis-Dreyfus’ controlling, demanding character.

That asterisk in the title? There’s a reason. And while I will not spoil anything, make sure you stay all the way through the end credits to see teasers for where future installments will take the MCU.

Not every joke lands, and the film could benefit from less dialogue about emotional pain and anguish. But as a transitional, character-driven MCU entry, this is plenty entertaining. After the recent disappointment with February’s Captain America: Brave New World, these heroes may be searching for their place in the world, but Thunderbolts* suggests the MCU may once again be moving in the right direction.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Geraldine Viswanathan, Wendell Pierce, Chris Bauer, Olga Kurylenko, Violet McGraw, Alexa Swinton, Eric Lange

Director: Jake Schreier
Written by: Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo (screenplay); Eric Pearson (story)
Features characters previously created by Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee
Release Date: May 2, 2025
Walt Disney Pictures