Thunderbolts*
A new gaggle of crime fighters assembles to save the planet – or at least New York – in Marvel’s 36th comic-book spectacular.
On the edge: Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
Obviously The Avengers we’re going to disappear entirely, at least in spirit. And while audiences await the release of Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps come July, this motley crew should fill the gap nicely. Although the strapline on the poster suggests that they are neither super nor heroes, they are certainly high-achieving and pretty valiant.
As the 36th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets into gear, we are introduced to Black Widow’s Yelena Belova (a luminous Florence Pugh) while she’s on a mission in Kuala Lumpur questioning her self-worth. In fact, the film’s opening words are, “there’s something wrong with me – an emptiness; just drifting like a river, like an old leaf on a river…” What she needs, of course, are some friends, or at least some colleagues to give her life some purpose. She then blows up a Malaysian high rise and heads back to the US to visit Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), a father figure who seems to have also lost his bearings.
Yelena is then sent by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the director of the CIA (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), to a secret compound in the desert to carry out a hit, only to discover that she herself is the target (these films can be quite duplicitous). However, Yelena is no pushover and she and her supposed adversaries are in the middle of fighting to the death when a man in pyjamas, Bob (Lewis Pullman, son of Bill), appears out of nowhere. Yelena’s alleged opponents are, in no particular order, John Walker, a successor to Captain America (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt), Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko), an extraordinary martial mimic, and Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), who can pass through material objects and turn herself invisible. But Bob is something different. He claims he has no recollection of how he got there, following an invitation to volunteer for a secret experiment. In fact, it’s a trial engineered by none other than Valentina, who is in the process of being impeached…
In the belief that audiences want nothing more than tons of combat and some aimless banter, Thunderbolts* presents plenty of both until getting in its stride. But it’s not until the final stretch that it gets really interesting, when Bob’s powers take on an ominous psychological byproduct by unleashing his victims’ worst hidden memories. Marvel fans may find this all terribly profound, and it certainly extends the workload of the digital artists in the company’s employ, but it’s all getting terribly same-ish. Once again, New York takes a dreadful battering, and there’s a certain wide-eyed Schadenfreude to see so much real estate take its comeuppance – but, again, we’ve seen this all before. The film’s ace card is the presence of Florence Pugh, who brings some heart and comic timing to her performance, while Geraldine Viswanathan is also good value as Valentina’s Machiavellian assistant. Marvel mavens will probably love it.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, Violet McGraw.
Dir Jake Schreier, Pro Kevin Feige, Screenplay Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Ph Andrew Droz Palermo, Pro Des Grace Yun, Ed Angela Catanzaro and Harry Yoon, Music Son Lux, Costumes Sanja Hays, Sound Samson Neslund, David Farmer, David C. Hughes and Nia Hansen, Dialect coach Courtney Young.
Marvel Studios-Walt Disney Studios.
126 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 2 May 2025. Cert. 12A.
