After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. (from IMDB)

It's probably barely debatable to say that Marvel Studios has been struggling since they wrapped up a solid decade of movies with Avengers: Endgame. They've since released some standout offerings, like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Black Widow, but most of the releases since then have been varying degrees of disappointing (I'm not counting the successful Deadpool and Wolverine, which was the MCU's lone R-rated film, which I also passed on seeing). As the studio begins production on the next two Avengers films, slated to release next year and the year following, they're continuing to lay in the path to those massive ventures. Thunderbolts* is the second of three 2025 MCU entries, after February's vastly underwhelming Captain America: Brave New World, and it finally feels like the studio may have a bit of the old magic back.

Thunderbolts* is tricky, because, to fully appreciate it, you will have had to have invested in quite a few hours of Marvel content. The characters herein involve Bucky, AKA The Winter Soldier, from the Captain America movies, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the Avengers films; Yelena Belova from Black Widow and the Hawkeye TV series; Alexei AKA The Red Guardian and Taskmaster also from Black Widow; Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp; John Walker, AKA U.S. Agent, from the Marvel TV series Falcon and the Winter Soldier; and Valentina who previously appeared in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, at the end of Black Widow and in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Going in blind to Thunderbolts* may have you feeling a little on the outside, as if starting to watch a TV series halfway through its run, but the characters do their best to reference each others' pasts in mini exposition-dumps, that serve as a way to let each other know they know who the other person is, while really existing just to clue in audiences who don't know who they are. There's a high probability that the general audience wouldn't know - or remember - characters like John Walker or Ghost, but the core fanbase probably at least have a vague idea of who they are. And that same fanbase most likely tuned into Black Widow, allowing them to be at least somewhat familiar with Yelena, Alexei, and Taskmaster. After all, we mainly follow Florence Pugh's Yelena as the central character here, and shifting that focus to her -- who was definitely likeable in Black Widow -- works to the film's advantage. David Harbour's The Red Guardian was the comic relief in Black Widow, and he reprises that role just as well here, too. It's a real treat to see these two characters together again.

The only real fresh face here is Lewis Pullman as "Bob," a mysterious character the Thunderbolts meet when they all meet each other. Pullman brings a lot to this character, too, as we're really not sure what to make of him for most of his screen time. But having Yelena and Bob connect early on in the story helps to create a connection with the audience to the character. We see that he's just another one of Valentina's pawns, and that characteristic is what helps unite the scrappy band of misfits. With that said, Thunderbolts* is a difficult movie to discuss in detail without giving away key plot points or even themes, so I'm going to offer up a spoiler-rich (but not entirely revealing) segment in the next paragraph to discuss the deeper themes of the movie. It's a surprisingly emotional movie - in a way sort-of akin to Inside Out 2, if I may, and one that is certain to take audiences by surprise.

OK, be warned now that the following paragraph is quite SPOILER-Y in regards to Thunderbolts*. Again, I'm about to openly address some key plot points, some "twists" or surprises, and some of the themes. So please skip this paragraph if you'd rather not know... OK, here we go... // We find out, before long, that Bob had been heavily experimented on in an effort to engineer the perfect superhero in the Avengers' absence. The thing is, Bob, while a super nice, everyday kinda guy, has a dark past. And it's not that he was a bad guy, it was that he comes from a trauma-filled past. We find out he struggled with meth addiction and came from an abusive home. Meanwhile, Yelena has been dealing with feeling aimless and lost in life, as well as feeling the weight of her dark past as a Widow assassin. Alexei even comments that her "light" inside is "dim," signifying that she seems hopeless and lost. This comes up again when the two share a really heartfelt and beautiful moment later in the movie. Earlier, as Bob and Yelena are bonding after first meeting, he asks her how she deals with her inner darkness and depression, and she somewhat humorously tells him she just buries it deep down. Later in the story, the darkness in Bob completely takes over... and that darkness starts to literally envelop New York City around them. This becomes when the movie starts to focus on that age-old notion of battling one's own dark side, and confronting their inner demons. It's something we've seen in countless movies and stories before, but for some reason, it feels a little different here in Thunderbolts*. At one point, Bob does rise to confront his dark side, and even beat it down, but the team realizes fighting the dark with dark - in this case, violence - isn't the answer. Fighting it together, railing against Bob's loneliness - together - is the answer. As cheesy as that might sound written, by the time the Thunderbolts fight with Bob against his own loneliness, the message and metaphor are quite clear. The entire team of misfits struggle with their place in the world. And, deep down, they all really just want to do something good - and to matter. It's in that that the story finds its deep relatability, and as simple as it all sounds, it's illustrated on the screen beautifully... maybe especially because it takes us by surprise in the process. I'm not sure anyone going into Thunderbolts* expects to be met with a deep emotional message about self-worth and feeling alone and dealing with their own shame... but that's what we get here... all neatly packaged up in a supehero movie. // ...OK, end of Spoiler content.

The content is probably as edgy as you might expect for a Marvel-brand Suicide Squad movie. There's a fair amount of profanity, as well as blasphemy, as Jesus' name is used in vain a half-dozen times. It's that kind of thing that really frustrates me about Marvel (and Disney); they know who their audience is, but they don't care to dial some things back a bit for families (or out of respect for their Christian demographic). There isn't any sexual content - and they seem to have backed off a bit from related controversial content - but there is a fair amount of bloody violence and dark themes here. The opening scene shows Yelena beating up armed guards and clearing out the floor of a high rise, and we see some bloody results when a tied up security guard catches a stray bullet. Another man she fights ends up getting shot in the face, but it's not shown on screen. (And we don't see the aftermath.) A character in a helmet is shot in the head at point-blank range and we briefly see their masked face with a bullet hole in it and some blood dripping down from the hole in the mask. Later in the movie, some characters have varying degrees of bloody cuts and scrapes on their faces, but it's not especially graphic. We see a flashback to Yelena's past as a little girl, training as a Widow when she had lured a girl into the woods for another man to spring out of the darkness and shoot her dead. We end up seeing this several more times. Another flashback features the sounds of a man yelling at his wife and kids shouting as he clearly is abusive to them. And another scene finds a character walking up to a vision of themselves passed out with a bottle of vodka in their hands. The passed out version springs to life and forces the bottle into the other person's mouth. It's a surprisingly disturbing moment. Finally, the main villain converts people into black, shadowy smears on the ground, and when it happens, it's often very shocking. At one point, it happens to a little girl who was just saved from falling debris, and it's a bit unsettling. Things end up turning out okay, but it's rather intense for a spell, so that's something to be a little wary of.

Overall, I really enjoyed the chemistry between this odd band of anti-heroes, even if it seems like most of their interactions are bickering. The only character I still struggle with liking is Wyatt Russell's John Walker. "Dimestore Captain America" is what one character calls him, and I can't think of a better description. His character was sort of a villain in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and while he was supposed to be a war hero turned temporary-Captain America, he was never all that likeable. Sadly, Thunderbolts* doesn't do much to help with that, although he makes for some good conflict (and comic relief) for the group. Maybe he'll grow more likeable in future appearances, but he just seems like a constant reminder that he's no Steve Rogers... in all the worst kind of ways.

With Marvel struggling so desperately to right the proverbial ship, Thunderbolts* seems like an odd offering. However, it's a sweet surprise with its own little surprises along the way. (I will say it helps set things up nicely for the MCU going forward... I just hope the studio can spike the ball with their next couple films.) Where Captain America: Brave New World failed in just about every choice of ingredients, director Jake Schreier seemed to have a good idea about what kind of movie he wanted to make here. Even group Son Lux, who composed the score, seemed to understand the assignment. Everything just feels a bit more purposeful and more thought-out with this one. It's a great kick-off to a promising summer of movies, and I look forward to seeing it again.

As you can imagine, there is a mid-credits scene and then a longer-than-usual post-credits scene that teases a future Marvel release.