It’s been a while since I’ve walked out of a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie excited about what I watched on the big screen. Yes, I loved Deadpool & Wolverine, but that felt more like the end of the Fox run of Marvel movies rather than an actually integral part of the MCU. That world proper has been hit and miss for me since Avengers: Endgame back in 2019, with some films fun and memorable (all the Spider-Man movies, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness) and others enjoyable enough yet utterly forgettable (Black Widow, Eternals). While Captain America: Brave New World felt like the beginning of a course correction, it’s Thunderbolts* that genuinely contains the Marvel magic for the first time in a long time.
Directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Thunderbolts* features an ensemble cast led by the excellent Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, mourning the death of her adopted sister Natasha Romanov, while trying to find her place in the world working black ops assignments for CIA Director Valentina Alegra de Fontaine (the entertaining and committed Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). Yelena’s final assignment brings her into contact with other agents of Valentina, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker, the US Agent (Wyatt Russell), and the confused, seemingly civilian Bob (Lewis Pullman). Throw in Yelena’s father figure, the Red Guardian (David Harbour) and the arrival of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and you have the makings of a rag tag team that shouldn’t work.
Thunderbolts* does work for many reasons, including a thoughtful script that deals with grounded topics like chosen family and mental illness. Its action scenes are top-notch, yet never over the top. The movie’s performances are what sucks us in and keeps us engaged. Everyone involved does fantastic work; they embody their characters perfectly. I wasn’t a fan of Wyatt Russell’s work in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series, but he upped his game significantly for Thunderbolts*.
As mentioned off the top, though, Thunderbolts* belongs to Florence Pugh, who delivers a complex, heartfelt performance and demonstrates why she’s one of the leading lights in Hollywood today. Her character and acting give us a hero to cheer for as she believably leads fans and her team into Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives next summer.
Getting the MCU back on track has been the talk of critics and fans for a while now, and it’s safe to say that Thunderbolts* does it and then some. If you’ve been looking for that Avengers magic in something new, you won’t be disappointed heading out to the movies to see Thunderbolts* on the big screen.
