After a bumpy start in the rollout of its next generation of films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has hit the mark with its latest release.
“Thunderbolts*“, directed by Jacob Schreier with a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, is a riotously funny, action-packed chapter that delves into the themes of loss, mental health and second chances.
The film, released Friday, May 2, is the 36th installment to the MCU and is the most recent addition to Phase 5—which started in 2023—of the movie franchise.
Providing a welcome return to the MCU, the film focuses on telling its own, stand-alone story without being entangled in the vast, complex universe which Marvel has spent the last 17 years building.
Set sometime after the events of “Captain America: Brave New World,” which was released on Feb. 14, the film follows the whereabouts of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), a former Black Widow.
Yelena, the adopted sister of the late Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), now works as a mercenary for hire.
When her newest assignment is revealed to be a suicide mission, Yelena must team up with some familiar faces to stop CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her illegal black-ops human experiments.
Florence Pugh is no stranger to playing grieving characters. Unlike the hysterical Dani in “Midsommar” (2019), her take on Yelena, years after losing her sister Natasha, is one of pure emotional detachment.
If Yelena were a stage in the grieving process, it would be depression.
“There is something wrong with me,” Yelena says in the opening monologue, just before falling off a Malaysian skyscraper. But it’s not out of despair—she’s parachuting into her next assignment.
Pugh, portraying Yelena, mows through armed guards like it’s another day at the office and vents her frustrations to a bound-and-gagged hostage.
Playing the lead in “Thunderbolts*,” Pugh carries the film’s emotional weight on her shoulders but is supported by a cast of returning characters and a new ally.
Lewis Pullman, who plays Robert “Bob” Reynolds, is a solid new addition to the cast and team.
Pullman puts in a multi-layered performance as the goofy, befuddled Bob, who stumbles into Yelena’s latest mission—literally.
Bob’s unchecked past trauma and mental instability soon become a catalyst for one of the most terrifying Marvel villains to date.
For those who have been out of the Marvel game for the last few movies, catching up with the current timeline may take some time.
Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is now a freshman congressman—giving the impression that voters must’ve forgotten he was once the Winter Soldier and a wanted criminal.
Much of the film’s humor is delivered by Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), aka Red Guardian. Harbor portrays the role of Yelena’s adopted father like an embarrassing but supportive dad.
While some characters reference past events from other recent MCU releases, the story is largely self-contained and has no gratuitous cameos or self-referential gags that have dragged down previous Marvel films.
In the end-credits scene—similar to how “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017) ends with Thor and Loki running into Thanos’ ship—the Thunderbolts get a taste of what’s next, with a cameo hinting at the arrival of “Fantastic Four: First Steps” on Friday, July 25.
