By focusing on its characters versus its larger universe, Thunderbolts* delivers the best MCU movie in years.
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2025 has been viewed as a "make or break" year for Marvel movies. Which is both fair and unfair in my opinion. On the one hand the studio clearly needs to entice folks to come back to the theater after a series of box office disappointments to pull in new audiences and old fans alike. On the other hand, Marvel is owned by Disney and if there's one media company that isn't struggling for cash it's Disney. So what better way to bring enthusiasm back to Marvel movies than a...team-up movie about depression? Well ok then.
The Setup
The film centers around the new Black Widow Yelena Belova, who is having an existential crisis after the death of her sister and a series of non-stop missions for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. But when her latest mission slams her into some of Valentina's other misfit operatives these damaged wannabe heroes will have to work together to survive and stop an Avengers-level threat.
When Thunderbolts* was first announced, I was concerned that this was a feeble attempt by Marvel to replicate the vibe of James Gunn's superhero work including the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, The Suicide Squad and even the Peacemaker TV show. Partially because they were really selling the "band of misfits idea" really hard in all of the marketing, and also because the previews focused on the film's more comedic aspects.
Which is why this movie's solid, but far darker than expected emotional hook works so well. So one thing about the team-up movies I just mentioned is that each of those team-up movies either detach themselves from the character's villianous paths (a la Suicide Squad) or present the heroes as traumatized people working through their issues (a la Guardians) with good hearts.
Whereas Thunderbolts* is about a bunch of people who are broken by ther own decisions and mistakes. At best, the missions Valentina gives them gives them something to do that day so they don't have to sit with all of the terrible things they've done or the awful people they are. They are all depressed. They lack purpose. And most importantly they lack connections. And it's really uncomfortable for them to confront their pasts and forge those connections. Which also means little successes like managing to work together or going from killing civilians on orders to saving them carries a lot more weight than it would in a regular Avengers movie.
This is the kind of emotional investment a lot of recent Marvel projects have been lacking and it makes a world of difference.
And of course, making Florence Pugh your movie's emotional centerpiece is a cheat code because she's both pure charisma on screen and also can jump back and worth wherever the movie needs her to go whether it's the wallowing depths or comedic embarassment at her father figure Red Guardian.
As much as I'm making about the "damaged goods" aspect of the movie, the movie is also a lot of fun. One thing that's nice with this collection of heroes is that they have built in limitations when it comes to abilities. This means that seemingly simple problems in other superhero movies (i.e. we need to get out of this locked room with a giant door) can't be solved with a single punch and that the action scenes require more creativity to be fun.
All of which Thunderbolts* handles incredible well be it an early "misunderstanding fight" where each of our leads get to show off against one another or this team that barely knows each other have to fend off waves of armed thugs. Director Jake Schreier and company also do a really good job of adding novel elements to each bout whether it's the camera work (i.e. a top down view of a typical Black Widow fight) or an added complication and limitation to make it work.
It's also underrated, but the undercurrent of "okay these are relatively normal people that could die if a single bullet hits the wrong spot," gives each of these scenes added tension as well.
And there's a healthy dose of humor in the movie as well, partially because everyone is constantly taking cracks at each other for how shitty they are, but the writers have also stacked the cast with great comedic actors or written characters predominantly as comedic relief like David Harbour's Red Guardian, Geraldine Viswanathan as Valentina's assistant and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in full Veep mode as Valentina.
All of which combines into...exactly what we want out of a modern blockbuster. Big feelings, big action, big characters, big jokes and a satisfying emotional payoff. I wouldn't go so far to say Marvel is "back" but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
The Verdict: Heartfelt and Fun
By focusing on its characters versus its larger universe, the MCU delivers its best movie in years. 8/10
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