Thunderbolts*
★ ★ ★ ★
Thunderbolts* is Marvel’s answer to the post-Endgame identity crisis — a team of super anti-heroes trying to fill the void left by the Avengers. If you’re familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), you know that The Avengers are the crème de la crème of superheroes who join forces to defeat a nearly invincible foe. They battle Thanos, a god-like villain capable of erasing half the universe with a snap of his finger — at great cost.
Thunderbolts* carries a clever asterisk in the film’s title because the heroes argue about what their team name should be throughout the film. It’s still up in the air by the time the credits roll. The Thunderbolts are akin to a rag-tag band of misfit toys who team up when they are all double crossed by their employer, Valentina Allegra de Fontane (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). She’s the director of the CIA, facing impeachment due to some illegal black ops projects she authorized.
Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Florence Pugh & David Harbour
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) and Robert Reynolds, a.k.a Bob (Lewis Pullman), are trapped by Valentina in a room in a remote base atop a mountain. A two-minute timer informs them they’ll be incinerated. They work together to escape by using super skills or super powers. Not long after their escape, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Alexi Shostakov (David Harbour) eventually join the team. I won’t list which character has what skill or power because finding out is part of the cinematic fun and ardent Marvel fans probably already know.
The plot of the film mostly entails the Thunderbolts figuring out how to work together to stop Bob, a volatile product of Valentina’s super-soldier experiments, whose fractured moral compass makes him both powerful and unpredictable. Bob, for all his instability, may be the only true success story from Valentina’s reckless pursuit of a genetically enhanced, perfect weapon.
Sebastian Stan as Bucky
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
The film succeeds in painting its discarded heroes as likeable underdogs, using their dysfunction to build chemistry and tension that feel earned. It makes for some fun dialogue and enhances the excitement of the film’s action. The script doesn’t stop there, giving us some serious emotional depth as the characters develop and learn to work together.
If I were to interview them for a spot on The Avengers team, they probably wouldn’t make the cut. But a scrappy group of superhero startups like this team might just be able to find a way to stop a formidable, inhuman enemy.
Florence Pugh as Yelena
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures
It’s the MCU’s most compelling team-up since Endgame, delivering heart, humor and just enough grit to stand tall alongside its iconic predecessors.
The Thunderbolts know they’re trying to punch above their weight class. They make us believe they have a fighting chance and it sure was a lot of fun watching them try.
Rated: PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.
Running Time: 2h 6m
Directed by: Jake Schreier
Written by: Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan
Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama
