Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ Unites a Pack of Losers for a Winning Adventure Laced With Psychological Depths

Alci Rengifo

Losers are irresistible as heroes. They can be so much more grounded and fun to be around than the picture perfect boy and girl scouts. Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” rekindles some of the studio’s old magic by introducing a new gang of misfits who are all likable messes. With a few misfires both creatively and at the box office, the pop culture behemoth had begun to lose its shine with a clutter of interconnected, lackluster titles attempting to garner interest in characters not as well known to the layman as the first crop of Avengers. This too is a movie based on a lesser known pack of comic book characters, but director Jake Schreier is given enough room to make them genuinely engaging, even on a psychological level. 

Still, as with most MCU movies, the plot first begins with reunions and re-introductions. Former Black Widow Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), still numbed by the death of her sister, the other Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in “Avengers: Endgame,” is a depressive carrying out secret ops for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). These are really clean-up operations to destroy evidence of the secret projects Valentina has been conducting, now coming under scrutiny by a major congressional investigation. During a new assignment, Yelena finds herself facing off with John Walker aka U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) and Ava Starr aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). They have all been sent by Valentina to the same facility to carry yet another clean-up operation, except it turns out this time they are the ones about to be cleaned out. They have to figure out an escape, while also bringing along a fairly ordinary guy also trapped in the facility, Bob (Lewis Pullman).

The non-MCU devotee would still need to do some homework if you want to know every single reference or starting point for these characters. John Walker for example was introduced in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Disney Plus series, first as an ill-advised new Captain America who gets demoted after murderously losing his temper in public. The Winter Soldier himself, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is back, now elected to congress but diverted from the boredom of government to expose Valentina. The most fun return is without a doubt Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena’s father who we first met in 2021’s “Black Widow.” He still can’t understand how people in the U.S. don’t recognize him as the Soviet Union’s super soldier answer to Captain America from back in the day. If you haven’t seen the other shows and movies, the dialogue provides enough exposition to reintroduce these characters essentially as burnouts now tasked with actually doing something heroic. 

Like one of Marvel’s best films, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the personalities become infinitely more entertaining than a plot that still follows most of the expected franchise beats, though not to the same level as previous MCU entries. The screenplay is by Joanna Calo and Kurt Busiek, the former also worked on Netflix’s acclaimed “Beef.” Their greatest contribution is not merely making the Thunderbolts (the name is reluctantly taken from Red Guardian’s memories of Yelena playing pee wee soccer) misfits, but individuals who unintentionally come together through being scarred. Instead of turning pain into gags, there are some impressively emotive moments where Yelena will confess that she has fallen into a spiral of drinking, doom scrolling and getting up the next day for no other reason other than having to. She has not processed her sister’s death and the trauma of her own past mingled with that reality is too much to bear. Pugh gives a sincere performance of genuine anguish. John Walker hides behind a know-it-all army veteran attitude because it’s too painful to admit his wife has left him. Red Guardian yearns to make amends for being a terrible father. A funny but original detail is that the Thunderbolts don’t really have any powers. “We’re losers,” Yelena snaps after a battle that leaves them nearly demolished. They know how to fight as required by an action movie, yet barely make it through alive.

Pop art doesn’t always get enough credit for its social relevance when it tries and “Thunderbolts*” finds other crafty ways of putting real ideas into its comic book narrative. It turns out Bob is no mere guy but part of a new super weapon experiment overseen by Valentina. He gets transformed into a dangerous new being who can then be seen as an analogy for U.S. or CIA policies that become truly monstrous. We tend to create the threats that come back with a vengeance. Some have complained about Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina not having more dimensions. What else can there be at times to an operator obsessed merely with power? Her ambitions are to cover up her wrongdoings and continue ascending, no doubt like many shallow entities now controlling the White House or other nation states. Dreyfus plays Valentina like a cynical suit who knows when to shift gears and make new friends without acknowledging her sins. The final showdown refreshingly avoids going too overboard with the CGI catastrophes that climax most MCU movies. Intelligently, the way the Thunderbolts must stop a new threat is by confronting Bob’s own inner demons, stemming from wounded childhood traumas that can emotionally stunt anyone. 

“Thunderbolts*” does have some flaws Marvel should quickly do away with moving forward as this movie closes its Phase Five and July’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will inaugurate Phase Six. Unlike “Guardians of the Galaxy,” this film suffers visually from a lack of color, shot well but with too much murkiness at times by Andrew Droz Palermo, who settles for a rather cold palette of meshed browns and grays. Most recent Marvel films have been visually lacking and this one, while doing better, lacks the dynamic visual canvas of the studio’s best work. The music by Son Lux is evocative at least, avoiding imitating James Gunn’s needle drop technique that was instantly imitated by countless movies. Why is there an asterisk in the title? Fans can guess it connects to the subhead of “The New Avengers” the Thunderbolts will be forced to take on after saving the day. Will that title last? The bonus end credits scene, one of the better recent ones that harkens back to those days when they meant something exciting to look forward to, points to a grander new story. Even if you don’t care for keeping track of the endlessly expanding universe, “Thunderbolts*” can be enjoyed as a ride with a gang of lost causes helping give Marvel back some spark.

“Thunderbolts*” releases May 2 in theaters nationwide.