Marvel’s Thunderbolts first graced comics in 1997. It was a ragtag group of heroes put together after the Avengers were presumed dead. The team members have changed over the years but they’ve always straddle the line between heroes and fugitives.  Marvel Studios Thunderbolts* follows a similar premise for their adventure.

CIA director Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is in the middle of impeachment hearings and wants to clean up any connections she has to illegal operations. She enlists Yelena (Florence Pugh) to take out Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who she says is attempting to steal sensitive information from a secure facility. Once in the facility Yelena finds Ghost along with Temu Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and a mysterious man named Bob (Lewis Pullman). 

The group learns they were all sent by Valentina to take each other out…and there’s Bob. During the escape from the facility, they learn Bob is a part of an experiment known as Project Sentry and he’s more powerful than any of them realized. Bob sacrifices himself to let the other’s escape but now he’s a weapon for Valentina to use. 

With the help of Congressman Barnes aka Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Valentina’s assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), and the Red Guardian (David Harbour), the Thunderbolts make their way to New York to confront Valentina, save Bob, and stop her from using him as her new super powered weapon. 

Thunderbolts* is a refreshing entry in the MCU. The cinematic universe that captured audiences over a decade ago has been unrecognizable in the past few films. Maybe it was the market being oversaturated with comic book adaptations, maybe audiences have matured, or Marvel’s inability to tell a story fan’s wanted. For whatever reason, the stories felt stale and uninspired. 

Thunderbolts* is doing something Marvel has done before. They’ve wrapped a movie/theme within a movie. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a spy thriller draped in Captain America attire. Thunderbolts* is a film about depression and mental health disguised as a silly comic book story. 

Yelena is the centerpiece for this story. During the film’s opening moments, she nonchalantly goes through her mission as if she’s disconnected from the world. During the voiceover she’s describing what her depression feels like and describes that dark place as “the void”. The other main character the film focuses on is Bob aka Sentry. One of his personalities/powers is described as the void. It’s a darkness that’s shown visually as a shadow that spreads and envelops everything. Once people are in the voice we get a visual representation of the kind of trauma that can pull people in or trigger their depression or other mood disorders.   

As serious as depression is, it was amazing to see depression explained in a way people can understand. During the third act, Yelena and Red Guardian have a discussion where she explains how she’s feeling and how she arrived at this point. Pugh and Harbour are both great in this scene. It’s a short scene but very raw and emotional, I was shocked to see it show up in a comic book movie. 

Mental health and depression aside, this is a Marvel movie; it has all the components fans have grown to love. The action is good and leads to some very satisfying fight sequences, especially Sentry’s introduction. The fight choreography looks like the fight sequences fans loved and less like the overly CGI/green screened fights from previous films.  

And of course, there’s the comedy. Although the themes are serious, the film cuts through a lot of that with some great one-liners and hilarious chemistry between characters. Harbour as the Red Guardian is the comedic relief for a lot of the film along with how everyone interacts with John Walker.  Florence Pugh as Yelena is what drives this film. Pugh has great comedic timing and also knows how to carry an emotionally heavy scene. She’s easily the best part of this film. I hope her character Yelena stays in the MCU for a long time.

Thunderbolts* feels like a return to greatness. The MCU is fully back but this is a great step in the right direction. If the Marvel Studios keeps making movies within movies, the MCU will be in a good place going forward. More important than the emotional component of the film is the idea that you can make a comic book film like this that delivers. Director Jake Schreier (Paper Towns) delivered a comic book film that has a unique voice – it’s artistic and thoughtful while also includes elements of a popcorn blockbuster fans will appreciate.  

Grade: B+