Marvel Studios has three very different, yet equally important, films coming out this year. The blockbuster giant’s kicked off 2025 in February with Captain America: Brave New World, which formally introduced Sam Wilson as Captain America and his mission to rebuild the Avengers.
Next up is Thunderbolts*, which sits on the completely opposite end of the team-up spectrum. If the Avengers are the cool kids in the spotlight, the Thunderbolts are the misfits in the back. Featuring heroes and villains with questionable histories and morals, Thunderbolts* is a surprisingly human and relatable superhero film.
Wrapped in epic action, a lovable cast, and plenty of laughs, Thunderbolts* is ultimately about trauma, loneliness and the desire for purpose. These are issues that many of us wrestle with daily, and for once, we see that despite all the cool powers and abilities, these characters are just like us.
Thunderbolts* premieres May 2, 2025 in theaters. Spoilers below!
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Review – A Heroic Team of Human Misfits
One of the reasons that superhero stories are so popular is because the characters are larger than life; gods walking the Earth with unimaginable power. Much of the draw for these stories is the idea of wish fulfillment. We want to see heroes like Captain America, Black Panther or Iron Man fight evil in ways we wish we could in real life.
However, there’s a limit to the impact of these superhuman stories. Go too far and these characters become unrelatable and hard to connect with. With Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios takes several characters with spotty backgrounds and motvations and brings them together to form an unlikely team.
The catalyst is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), whom we last saw in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier recruiting a disgraced John Walker (Wyatt Russell). Whenever you see someone in a position of power exploiting others in their moments of extreme vulnerability, you know that their motivations are nefarious. No surprise that de Fontaine has been using Walker and others like him for black ops missions. Also on her roster are Yelena (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
If there is a primary hero in this story, it’s Yelena, who is unfulfilled in her life doing the dirty work for de Fontaine, and is seeking a greater purpose for her life. Naturally, she turns to her father figure Alexei (David Harbour), the Red Guardian, who is trudging through a similarly unsatisfying existence. Ironically, Alexei actually has some helpful insight to offer Yelena – being a hero and serving others is the path to fulfillment (we’ll turn a blind eye to the fact that Alexei’s only experience of this higher calling is serving the Soviet Union in its espionage efforts against the U.S.).
Pugh and Harbour, who had fantastic chemistry in Black Widow, don’t miss a beat in this film. The overly enthusiastic Alexei is enjoyable for his sincerity and humor, even if the jokes come a little too fast and furious throughout the film. Pugh’s Yelena offers a nice balance, with her wry sarcasm and unflappable demeanor.
Yelena and Alexei’s existential struggles represent the overall theme of Thunderbolts* – the pursuit of purpose and the impact of living without that purpose. Yelena, Alexei and the rest of this band of misfits don’t actually want to be heroes. They just want to find meaning in their lives. They’re not motivated by honor or morals. Instead, they’re simply trying to figure out why how to deal with the emptiness inside of them.
Few characters understand the struggle within better than Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the former World War II hero, turned brainwashed Hydra agent, turned Avenger, and now apparently a United States Congressman. Bucky made a brief but memorable appearance in Brave New World, which introduced the concept of him running for political office. By the events of this film, Bucky has apparently been elected, and it’s a befuddling turn for the character that this film does little to clarify. Fans simply have to trust that there’s a point to this arc for Bucky that will become clear in the future.
Bucky, who has become one of the most beloved characters in all of the MCU, is more action hero than tortured anti-hero in this film. Compared to this group, Bucky is a shining light of morality and is primarily focused on being a hero. He does have the coolest and most epic action sequences in the film and Bucky fans should be satiated with that scene alone.
Congress does play an important role in the film as they get wind that de Fontaine is responsible for some morally questionable science experiments designed to create her very own bioengineered superhero team, and seek to put an end to her reign as the director of the FBI. To cover her tracks, de Fontaine tries to clean house, including getting rid of her black ops lackeys who have first-hand knowledge of her secret experiments. Of course, that brings the team together against their common enemy, pitting de Fontaine against the monsters she’s created.
Speaking of monsters, one by product of de Fontaine’s experiments is Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), also known as Sentry. First introduced as a naive and clueless civilian who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, we soon find that Bob has a dark secret that even he didn’t realize.
Pullman plays the role perfectly, exuding the same kind of down-to-earth charm that made his father a beloved actor. From the moment Bob laughs at John Walker and calls him an “asshole,” to the revelation of his true powers, you can’t help but root for Bob. The rest of the team feels the same, as saving Bob (and the rest of the world) from himself becomes the primary mission for the team.
It seems that the point that director Jake Schreier and his team are trying to make is that in the end, the only way to save ourselves and ultimately the world, is to save each other. Not by punching harder or having the biggest army, but by actually caring for each other. That idea is what makes Thunderbolts* different from other superhero films. These heroes don’t win the day by beating down the villain. In fact, they quickly realize that they’re not nearly strong enough to punch their way to victory. Instead, they find victory and healing through empathy and care.
Tackling issues like loneliness and trauma make Thunderbolts* one of the darker Marvel films. There’s also a fairly significant death in the film which, unfortunately, is the weakest part of the story. While a well placed character death can elevate the stakes and emotional weight of a film, this one felt completely unnecessary and did little to impact the overall story. The other characters themselves barely react to the death, and it’s acknowledged in such a emotionless way that fans of the character are bound to be disappointed. For a film that is so eager to address genuine issues of suffering, it was a surprise to see a character’s death handled in such a manner.
Rating – 3.5/5 Pocky
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.
