Thunderbolts* (2025) - Film Review

      **Thunderbolts**, 2025

      Directed by Jake Schreier

      Starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olga Kurylenko, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, Joshua Mikel, and Violet McGraw.

      **SYNOPSIS:**

      After becoming trapped in a deadly situation, an unconventional group of antiheroes must undertake a perilous mission that compels them to confront the most troubling aspects of their pasts.

      The Marvel Cinematic Universe has thrived for decades partly because, although each new addition is another superhero film, the formula adapts to fit different subgenres, such as heists, summer comedies, sibling rivalries, or martial arts. Consequently, it seems inevitable that the franchise would engage with a prevalent theme in contemporary cinema: trauma. Fortunately, **Thunderbolts** is not shy about delving into darker territory, treating the characters and their internal struggles with the seriousness they deserve in a universe where films shift between tones as frequently as they do genres.

      It speaks volumes that, even without revisiting the various films and TV shows featuring the antiheroes in **Thunderbolts**, the material still strikes an emotional chord. This is achieved through sincerity, a strong script, and compelling performances. Director Jake Schreier along with screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo seem to recognize that the audience is fatigued from an oversaturated market that has turned theoretical re-watches into a chore (possibly under guidance from Marvel's overseer Kevin Feige, who appears to have realized that rapidly churning out projects may not be beneficial).

      Thus, the backstories of these antiheroes (and their related films) become largely irrelevant; they are damaged mercenaries who have often committed horrific acts against their will but primarily represent traumatized individuals. The film focuses more on the themes of isolation, depression, alienation, and the dark thoughts associated with living through trauma each day. **Thunderbolts** excels mainly because it uses these themes to resonate with genuine, relatable human emotions rather than merely expanding on characters that some MCU fans may not fully recall.

      It’s uncommon for a Marvel film to be accessible to general audiences without prior familiarity with the franchise, as the movie's intent and emotional essence are anchored in real-life challenges. In this case, it unfolds within a superhero universe that also seeks to propel the franchise forward after a series of forgettable films that seemed lackadaisical. Yet, it manages to maintain a delicate equilibrium so that neither aspect undermines the other.

      Beginning with a stylish fight scene, **Thunderbolts** introduces Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, a former Black Widow turned mercenary, narrating the dull routine of her life, which involves executing dubious cleanup jobs for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who is currently facing impeachment for her inhumane attempts to develop new super soldiers. After completing a job, Yelena returns home, lonely and numbing her pain with alcohol, attempting to suppress traumatic childhood memories linked to her assassin training while reflecting on her troubled relationship with her father, Alexei Shostakov, the Russian supersoldier known as the Red Guardian (David Harbour), who served as a counterpart to Captain America. Ultimately, it delves into the existential frustrations of any job that necessitates returning home to confront those dark thoughts.

      Yelena hopes that engaging in genuine superhero work could be a refreshing change, and she is assured that her wish will be granted after she completes one last assignment for de Fontaine. This mission involves erasing any evidence that could be traced back to her during the impeachment proceedings and requires a visit to a remote lab nestled on a mountaintop. Upon her arrival, it becomes evident that a clever narrative twist reveals that all staff members working for de Fontaine are there to eliminate each other while performing the same task.

      This group includes Wyatt Russell as disgraced former Captain John Walker, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster (another Russian child soldier, seen previously in Black Widow), and Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost (a character I vaguely recall from one of the Ant-Man films). There’s also the enigmatic Bob (Lewis Pullman), an ordinary person who appears to have been experimented upon and ultimately proves to have a unique significance. Soon enough, Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier crashes the gathering, now a congressman intent on gathering evidence against de Fontaine, inadvertently taking charge of this group of flawed misfits.

      While John Walker is depicted as overly silly without self-awareness—contrasted against the more grounded portrayal he had in the Falcon and Winter Soldier series, where the film imposes an unfunny incompetence on him that clashes with flashbacks of his troubled personal life—everyone else is portrayed as sympathetic and potentially redeemable, despite their flaws.

      However