Let's be honest, the Marvel Cinematic Universe ain't what it used to be. The box office's erstwhile Golden Goose is now contending with critical thrashings, middling box office returns, and a general apathy where excitement used to be. Which makes it so shocking how good Thunderbolts* ended up being.
With the Avengers gone (and the movie beats us in the head with that fact every chance it gets), no more heroes are coming to save us. Cue shady CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss having loads of fun), who's been busy on superhuman research before scrubbing her name clean with the help of a reluctant Yelena and a few other black ops. Steaming under the spotlight of impeachment, Valentina decides to fry up tie up loose ends. Said loose ends namely being Yelena, John Walker, Ghost, and a mysterious stowaway named Bob (Lewis Pullman).
Remember when people ostensibly considered "D-listers" like Iron Man and Thor strange picks to make tentpole movies of? It was a laughable opinion then, it's even more laughable now considering who the cast of Thunderbolts* are. John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is a refugee from the disappointing The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) has been an afterthought since 2018(!), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) has been in skirting the peripherals of the MCU for the past few years, always the bridesmaid never the Widow. You would think watching third-string characters would be the same as watching paint dry, but with a stellar cast that includes Oscar nominees and indie darlings, Thunderbolts* still got a glint of edge.
On the run and smarting from betrayal, Yelena and co. are joined shortly by her adoptive dad Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Congressman-slash-Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), heading straight for a collision course with Valentina. But Bob, as it turns out, is a nihilistic and depressed drug addict—and Valentina's crowning achievement in superhuman experimentation. This ragtag team is already having a hard time fighting their personal demons, what more when you add a godlike superguy whose own inner darkness can swallow the world in the Void?
I'll be honest, I'm checked out of Marvel movies. My expectations have never been lower. But Thunderbolts* surprised me by having the one thing that made MCU movies so enduring and successful: deeply personal stakes. Captain America: The Winter Soldier would not have been as good if Steve didn't have a personal stake in Bucky's redemption. Despite the blood and violence, Black Widow was the story of two sisters trying to reconnect. With Thunderbolts*, even with the arrival of The Void, Yelena and co. are fighting not just to save the world, but also an innocent soul—and maybe absolve their own in the process.
Even more surprising is how competent Thunderbolts* is. Without the stink of reshoots and writers' strikes, the movie is a smooth ride from minute one, deftly directed under the steady hand of Jake Schreier.
As much as a return to formula is welcome, this is still an MCU movie, warts and all. The zingers-per-minute had me in stitches, but a movie about trained killers facing their personal demons would have been better with less bathos.
And while Thunderbolts* handled "guys with guns fighting God" better than Suicide Squad with a solution that isn't just bullet, it still ends with such an anticlimax that I was surprised when the credits started rolling immediately after.
Still, after the narrow hits and disappointing misses of current Marvel Studios fare, it's refreshing to see a gamble that pays off. While the cyclical nature of MCU movies' successes means this could be the last win we'll get in a while, I'm just happy to enjoy a Marvel movie on the big screen again.
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