Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* info:

Director: Jake Schreier

Writer: Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo, Kurt Busiek

Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Hannah John-Kamen

               Hello and welcome back to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. Long ago, the summer movie season would kick off sometime in early June. Schools were out, and they wanted to pack the theaters with all the kids. Then it moved to the end of May… around Memorial Day, but honestly, I think things get started right at the first of the month anymore. Coming off the heels of “Captain America: Brave New World”, here comes “Thunderbolts*” just about three months later. But Marvel has always had a good sense about timing, and since there aren’t any active MCU series streaming on Disney+ right now, this seems like a good time.

                Like most films in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), the cast list is long, and every story intertwines with the previous stories that came before it. This one is no different, but before we get into it, it’s spoiler warning time. Anyone knows that if you don’t see a new Marvel movie during the first week, then you are risking finding out big plot points or secrets from the mid or after-credit scenes. Well, this review won’t be any different. I will be discussing major plot points and character development, so if you haven’t seen it yet, then you may want to go back to my site and check out some other reviews there. For everyone else, let’s get to it.

                So, “Thunderbolts*” (yes, I’m keeping the asterisk in the title since that’s what Marvel did) is the newest MCU film. This one was directed by Jake Schreier, which is a big step up from directing music videos and single episodes of television shows (which comprise most of his body of work). Not to mention all of the various talent he got to work with this time around. For those that don’t know, let me give a quick rundown of all the main Marvel characters that appear in this film, since this isn’t like some of the previous ones. Some of these may be a little harder to remember.

                Yelena (Pugh) will be mostly known for her turn as Natasha’s (Scarlett Johansson) sister in “Black Widow” and a quick showing in “Hawkeye”. Bucky Barnes (Stan) will be the most widely recognized since he’s appeared in eight other MCU movies and shows. Red Guardian or Alexei (Harbour), also from “Black Widow,” brought a lot of humor to the role. John Walker (Russell) is known so far for only his role in the show “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier”. Then, Ghost (Ava Starr, played by John-Kamen) from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” rounds out the main team of returning anti-heroes. Of course, none of this would be possible without Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who accidentally brings them all together by failing to kill them.

                So, to sum up the backstory, Valentina had each one of these working for her (except Bucky), doing various high-profile jobs. When the government had her backed to the wall, she decided to destroy all the evidence… including the people too. All of the characters mentioned above work together, except for Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), since they killed her off almost immediately. Surprising move since they had her in all of the pre-movie marketing. During all the fighting, however, someone named Bob was awakened from a deep sleep in some sort of pod where he was presumed dead.

                Where “Thunderbolts*” starts to get its legs is when they are joined by Bucky on the road, and he decides to recruit them to stop Valentina. She had learned that Bob had a lot of powers, so she was training him and was going to use him to do her bidding. As Bob was learning more about his abilities, he was also getting stronger, and just as he realized that he didn’t have to take orders from her anymore, her assistant, Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), pressed the kill switch to shut him down.

                But in true comic book fashion, someone that powerful can’t just be stopped that easily. As he turns dark…like his body actually turned to a dark black, he rises up and begins to vaporize people in the city. Eventually, this happens to Yelena too, but with the help of her new team, they join her in what appears to be inside Bob’s head, work together, and find a way out. Not only do they save Bob, but all of the people return as well. Valentina takes the credit for everything and announces the ragtag team as The New Avengers.

                This is what a Marvel movie is supposed to be. Just plain simple fun, with lots of action and humor mixed in. “Thunderbolts*” wasn’t as good as the first time I watched “Guardians of the Galaxy”, but it does give off a very similar vibe. The cast plays off each other very well, and you can also see them growing throughout the film. I do wish we had gotten a few scenes of how their lives had improved after they saved everyone… especially with Walker as the fallen hero. I’m also still shocked at that Taskmaster death.

                Overall, this is a great step in the right direction for the MCU and an amazing way to give some minor characters some major screentime. With them being dubbed as The New Avengers at the end of the movie, we can all but guarantee most (if not all) of them will show up in the next two Avengers films slated for release in the near future. Oh… and don’t sleep on that after-credit scene that gave me goosebumps. I’d have to go back and check my records, but this is probably one of the best movies I’ve seen so far in 2025. It’s up there with “Death of a Unicorn” and “Nosferatu” for sure, and I give it an 8 out of 10!

                That’s it for me this week. Have you seen “Thunderbolts*” yet? If so, how do you rank it among some of the other newer MCU films? Do you like the way they brought all of the characters together and turned them into “heroes”? I would love to hear your thoughts on this, so please let me know in the comments below. I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.