Thunderbolts* (2025)
Directed by Jake Schreier
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
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65 films that influenced Thunderbolts*
What critics say influenced Thunderbolts*
But Thunderbolts* isn’t really an action movie – it’s a character drama with a focus on healing what’s broken inside these individuals by making them part of something bigger than themselves, which calls to mind other Marvel teams like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers.
Slapping together a few of Marvel’s more street-level mercenary types might’ve worked if they’d gone full Guardians of the Galaxy mode — a movie grounded in real heart that actually took creative swings, like featuring a talking tree and his wisecracking raccoon bestie.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” already succeeded in getting a group of misfits together and making them seem like soulmates who belong together.
In the spirit of Marvel’s past breakout hit Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbolts* miraculously fosters attachment to characters…
…it may have the same general vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy or The Suicide Squad…
Some of the best movies in the history of the MCU have thrived off bouncing interesting characters and performances off each other in projects like “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Conceived as the MCU’s answer to The Suicide Squad or a replacement for the Guardians of the Galaxy…
…which makes it look flat and desaturated compared to the punchy vibrance of the Suicide Squads that came before it…
…it may have the same general vibe as Guardians of the Galaxy or The Suicide Squad…
…in terms of ‘villains form a super-team’ stories it is a long draw behind James Gunn’s underrated The Suicide Squad (2021).
Taking a well-tested formula, where a ragtag group of misfits are thrown together and learn to become a team fighting for good, that made 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and 2021’s The Suicide Squad hits, Schreier’s film manages to walk a delicate tightrope.
On paper, it sounds like Marvel’s take on The Suicide Squad, but Thunderbolts* earns its own identity…
Not unlike its DC counterpart the Suicide Squad…
Marvel is doing its best to alter its cinematic course by continuing its own "Suicide Squad"-esque entry with "Thunderbolts*."
Marvel finally assembles its own team of antiheroes, nearly a decade after DC's atrocious Suicide Squad…
There have already been comparisons to the Suicide Squad movies (including one in-movie quote)…
…making this lineup feel like Marvel’s answer to the Suicide Squad.
In other words, Marvel’s version of DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad.”
But Thunderbolts* isn’t really an action movie – it’s a character drama with a focus on healing what’s broken inside these individuals by making them part of something bigger than themselves, which calls to mind other Marvel teams like the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers.
It also feels like a mirror image of “The Avengers” (2012).
It’s a far cry from how mass audiences went into The Avengers (2012), coming off a run of successful solo movies that setup each of the characters assembling for a big pay-off.
…delivering a couple of moments that are clever echoes of the first Avengers movie…
Some of the best movies in the history of the MCU have thrived off bouncing interesting characters and performances off each other in projects like “The Avengers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
It’s a welcome return to the boots-on-the-ground feel of The Avengers…
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I'm still pissed about how Endgame insensitively used Thor's depression and PTSD to make fat jokes.
…the stagnant state of the Marvel Universe as a whole since Avengers: Endgame. Seemingly every momentous peak of triumph is matched—or often buried—by some form of grief management…
Let’s face it, the MCU’s track record since Avengers: Endgame has been spotty at best.
…one of the things I liked most about Thunderbolts* is actually one of the things I liked most about Infinity War and Endgame: Combinations of characters who’ve never met, but make for an interesting dynamic.
This might not be the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame (that’s still certainly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)…
…or Thor’s depression in Avengers: Endgame…
There's a sequence in a stacked car-chase that samples Terminator 2, Mission: Impossible II and The Matrix too.
…there’s also a fun Terminator 2 style bike and car shoot ‘em up chase…
…channels shades of Terminator 2’s T-800 in a standout motorcycle sequence…
…not to mention some visually striking stunts à la Mission: Impossible…
Florence Pugh, who goes all Tom Cruise and does a pretty goddam incredible Mission: Impossible-level stunt herself at the start of the movie…
…a practical stunt that Marvel has marketed with all the chutzpah of a “Mission: Impossible” movie…
…borrowing from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Chronicle and Everything Everywhere All at Once playbooks…
The cinematic reference is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but instead of Jim Carrey scampering around his own psyche it’s Pugh and her bickering, ramshackle squad crashing in and out of Bob’s psychological misery.
The premise takes on an "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" angle that doesn't quite stick the landing but is a fun ride all the same.
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Marvel is certainly trying to claim their space among postmodern superhero favorites like The Boys or Invincible…
…in a way that also reminded me of The Boys TV series, in how Valentina’s basically the architect of a terrible “Homelander”-style personality…
The Big Bad, the Void, feels like “Brightburn” (2019) meets “The Boys” though less profane and rapey.
We have the Homelander in the show The Boys, and Omniman in the animated series Invincible.
Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine…
They tried with Deadpool & Wolverine (dir. Shawn Levy, 2024), but no amount of CG blood can compete with elasti-dicks and gratuitous head bursting…
Marvel has had a light year on the silver screen in 2024, with just Deadpool & Wolverine releasing.
Aside from the highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine, fan enthusiasm has cooled…
…doesn’t skirt the supposed 16-cert outrages of Deadpool & Wolverine…
…other than last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine they refuse to show up as they used to…