Thunderbolts* Puts The MCU’s Most Unlikely Team To Work
How do you get a group of sassy antiheroes to work as a team? Call Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ corrupt CIA Director seemed to offer our unlikely heroes a chance at redemption, but it was more about serving her own agenda. Even though her presence is selfish and conniving, at least we can thank her for bringing the Thunderbolts* together.
In their first major team up, the gang works to take down the powerful superhuman Sentry, also known by his alter ego The Void. When he grows in power and superiority, he projects a black darkness over New York that transports his victims into their worst memories. This was a key element in the film as they explored themes of grief, depression, and loneliness. The film shows how Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) feels this sense of emptiness that not even her work can fill. She doesn’t feel part of the world she’s in, but merely a tool being used. When Yelena visits her father Alexei aka the Red Guardian (David Harbour), a year after her sister Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) death, she explains to him that she has no purpose. I loved the character development between these two in Thunderbolts*, especially as they dive deeper their relationship and highlight his role as a father figure.
Trust comes into question when the Thunderbolts realize they’ve all been set up on a mission that will be fatal. We discover that Sentry/The Void is a man who was thought to be a civilian named Bob (Lewis Pullman) with his own wounds. Bob seems confused about how he ended up in the middle of these five characters, but the audience learns that it all circles back to Valentina. When Bob and Yelena end up trapped in the Void, he isn’t sure he can trust her at first. But they bond over their shared loneliness, it allows them to work together to figure out how to help each other through it. While the sequence went through Yelena’s doors of regrets and past traumas, I would’ve been interested to see at least one door from each character. They all have lived complex lives; it would've been another way to develop their stories.
The idea of redemption also really hit home when the Red Guardian reflects on how he loved serving his country and how people used to cheer for him. Later, we see the team quietly take that in as they’re met with applause after saving civilians from falling debris, a rare moment of recognition that clearly means something to them. While John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ava (Hannah John-Kamen) may not have taken the lead, their actions still reflected strong teamwork, especially in the way they coordinated with the rest of the squad when it counted. They both slowly learned to rely on each other, but not before they threw sly comments at one another.
When it comes to the action sequences, Thunderbolts* delivers! With Florence Pugh even calling out in interviews that she performed the free fall stunt herself, which took place on the second tallest building in the world. Action wasn’t the only thing that packed this movie, the comedic timing was solid. They are a sassy bunch, but it was done in a way that doesn’t seem redundant.
Overall, the film explores themes that audiences will wholeheartedly connect with, particularly the experience of feeling alone in the world. That kind of emptiness can be overwhelming and the story doesn't ignore it. Instead, it portrays those emotions honestly, allowing the characters’ struggles to come through in a raw and meaningful way. This is the start of a new team in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Valentina confirms it — the original Avengers were never coming back, so are the Thunderbolts the new heroes to save the world? This band of misfits has my vote.
Thunderbolts* is out in theatres now.
