Review by C.J. Bunce
It’s the Black Widow sequel. It could have been called Black Widow 2. And it picks up threads from Ant-Man and The Wasp and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. That’s all you’d think from the trailers. But the title, although fitting, undersold it all. It was advertised to look like just another connector movie. But it is so much more than that. Thunderbolts* — were it instead marketed as The New Avengers — it would have served the resulting film better, since it does more for the franchise than any of the previous team-ups and crossovers. It deserves that name. Why not call it like it is? Take a look at The New Avengers, now streaming on Disney+, and see for yourself if anyone has delivered a performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as compelling as Florence Pugh back as Yelena Bolova, daughter of David Harbour’s Red Guardian and sister to Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanov. And they even brought along a new, compelling villain, something we haven’t seen since Red Skull and Killmonger (and maybe Thanos).
It’s about time.
Then again if audiences knew its themes in advance, maybe not as many people would be drawn to it than expecting a fun action-packed romp. Dealing with isolation and grief, plus mental illness, the movie reaches in to find some depth, something superhero movies haven’t been known for. Yes, Black Panther nicely looked at shoring up centuries of racial imbalance in a clever and smart way. DC’s Wonder Woman finally put a woman in the title role position. But in Thunderbolts*, beginning with the title, this second Black Widow superheroine actually does something with her opportunity. Twice she steps into the line of fire to fix all the problems going on around her, not just talking about it, not just thinking about it. She is a hero for today.
And look at Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr aka Ghost. She embodies the “honor among thieves” idea. Twice she has the opportunity to be self-serving, to “take the money and run.” If she had done that, she’d be the only superhero to survive the movie. But I think you’ll find more humanity behind these B-team superheroes over their A-list predecessors.
Behind this story is the much-hinted at fringe character and very comic book named villain from past Marvel movies, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I think this is Louis-Dreyfus’s most intriguing character since her Saturday Night Live days. Her fast-talking, single-threaded, “kill them with kindness so long as you kill them” approach seems tailor-made for the actress’s strengths. Lewis Pullman makes his first appearance as the bifurcated Marvel Comics character Sentry/Void, and he is presented as one of Marvel’s most layered, fascinating villains so far. But Valentina is the primary antagonist of this show. Everyone everywhere is sick of political manipulators. It’s why Harrison Ford’s troubled President Ross didn’t have the sizzle Marvel was looking for in Captain America: Brave New World. But this villain is your textbook supervillain, the puppetmaster behind a team of assassins, who are still assassins even if they only kill bad guys.
The movie has one flaw that conflicts with its course of imperfect superheroes trying to make good, however, and that’s killing off a key character for no purpose whatsoever early in the story. No explanation, no apologies, no Tony Stark is a jerk but we’re still going to mourn him like he was a saint. It’s the only element that doesn’t fit the path the superheroes take on this journey. And that character is shot in the head, a not very comic book-ish end for someone who hasn’t been established as evil, all carried out by a character with no particular relationship before becoming a vacuous hired gun for Valentina.
Hailee Steinfeld’s Hawkeye, Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel, and Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk, all had origin series, and you can add in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to get an all-new set of heroes. But with this mixed crew from the Infinity War films, now we have something we can look forward to that doesn’t just leave the past behind. Who would have guessed Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell’s U.S. Agent, John-Kamen’s Ghost, Harbor’s Red Guardian, and Pugh’s Black Widow would have some kind of chemistry? Clearly, despite the movie’s post-credits coda, we don’t need the Fantastic Four to save the day. Maybe it’s David Harbour’s complete immersion into that character. That sincerity when he expresses concern for his daughter. The folks who tried more than once to make Suicide Squad should take notes from director Jake Schreir, who doesn’t have all that much experience on his C.V.
Only one thing remains. Marvel should bring its fans more movies like this. It’s fun. Now that we know how Bucky washes his cyborg arm, will we be able to look at him the same way again? It finally gives Marvel fans something to look forward to. Knowing that this team of New Avengers will be leading the way, that giant coast roster for next summer’s Avengers: Doomsday may be easier to digest. How will Marvel merge the first team of the X-Men led by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen with this team and the third Fantastic Four team, along with Channing Tatum as Gambit, Paul Rudd back as Ant-Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Simu Liu as Shang Chi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Danny Ramirez as The Falcon, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Prince Namor? We won’t find out until May 1, 2026. That doesn’t leave much screentime for any single character. What remains unanswered is where we’ll catch up with everyone else: Hailee Steinfeld’s Hawkeye, Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel, Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle aka The Punisher, and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil.
Until we find that out, Marvel fans have something to be excited about again. Catch Thunderbolts*, streaming at last, now on Disney+.
