THUNDERBOLTS*: A Breath of Fresh Air

THUNDERBOLTS* (Digital)

2025 / 127 min

Marvel Studios

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Thunderbolts* is now available on Digital, and will be released on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD July 29.

At the very least, Thunderbolts* doesn’t hinge its entire narrative on events which occurred in previous Marvel films or TV shows. Its main protagonists are lesser known, previously introduced MCU characters, but the film does a decent job re-establishing them for newbies. So unlike Marvel’s recent attempts to extend its increasingly rote universe, this one actually works quite well as a stand-alone story.

It’s also pretty damn funny. I know that probably sticks in the craw of militant fanboys who take their superheroes way too seriously, but there’s a good reason Deadpool & Wolverine and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 have been among Marvel’s few recent financial bright spots. And like Guardians, the ample amount of humor throughout Thunderbolts* feels organic, mostly stemming from the characters’ distinctive personalities rather than an abundance of jokey one-liners. Ultimately, it’s the kind of Marvel movie one might recommended to those who profess to hate them (save for the DC emos still worshiping at the alter of Zack Snyder).

The story itself is perfunctory. Yelena (Florence Pugh) is a Black Widow assassin who regularly does dirty work for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), as does John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who was once slated to be the next Captain America. Facing impeachment for her questionable experiments trying to create a super-human hero (called the Sentry project), Valentina instructs Yelena to go to Malaysia and destroy the lab containing all the evidence, while ordering Walker to kill Yelena, and ordering Ava Starr (aka Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen) to kill Walker. Instead, they discover an amnesiac young man named Bob, the result of Valentina’s experiment. Now she wants everyone but Bob dead.

"I told you if we parked here we'd get towed."

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), now a rookie congressman, is trying to expose Valentina’s illegal activies, while Yelena’s estranged father, Alexei (aka Red Guardian, played by David Harbour) saves her, Walker and Ghost. All of them reluctantly (since they have no love for each other) team up to save Bob, though his emerging God-like powers, hastened by Valentina, prove too formidable. But really, the story is of secondary importance. What really matters here are the characters. Though most were introduced in other films, Thunderbolts* makes them engaging and likable…even Parker with all his cockiness. Their antagonistic relationships and bickering banter are often very funny, occasionally kind of touching.

Additionally, this is a surprisingly low-key affair for a Marvel movie. There’s still plenty of action, but comparatively speaking, it’s fairly grounded and never threatens to take over the entire film, not even during the climax. And even though these characters all have dark pasts (especially Bob, it turns out), the overall tone is breezy and fun, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. I especially liked the origins of the Thunderbolts name, as well as the story's amusing denouement.

Does Thunderbolts* rank among the best MCU films? No, but it’s certainly the most purely entertaining one in quite awhile. In a way, it’s not unlike a triumph-of-the-underdog sports movie: These guys are initially branded losers, but over the coarse of the story, they overcome personal individual shortcomings to find strength as a team, part of what makes it kind of a breath of fresh air.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Around the World and Back Again; Assembling a Team to Remember; All About Bob, Sentry and the Void.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Jake Schreier.

BLOOPERS - As usual, it’s mostly the cast clowning in up for the camera.

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