Review of 'Thunderbolts*'

After destroying a laboratory on behalf of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to cover up her involvement in O.X.E. Group's “Sentry” superhuman project, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is sent along with other superhero misfits John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov (aka Taskmaster, played by Olga Kurylenko) to a covert O.X.E facility. The group immediately start fighting each other and unwittingly release seemingly normal Robert “Bob” Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) from a suspended animation pod. The group quickly realize it is a trap as they find measures are in place to prevent them from using their powers. The group does manage to escape with the help of Bob who turns out to have powers of his own as the result of the Sentry program. De Fontaine is determined to market Bob as a superhero protector of the world, replacing the disbanded “Avengers”, so sends agents to pursue the group of misfits but she quickly realizes she has more than she bargained for in “Bob” as he overcomes any control she has on him…

It is no secret that Marvel sees this as the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with this group of mismatched heroes becoming “The New Avengers” (as announced at the end of the film). In Thunderbolts we see how these rejected heroes with conflicting personalities manage to find a way to work together. It is a good amount of fun and great to watch with plenty of action but not a lot of the “massive scale” stuff we have seen in the Avengers films which, perhaps, is a good thing as it is much easier to appreciate the close quarters, smaller scale battles we see here. Even so, none of the excitement is gone with a sense of something different from what we have seen before.

These are characters most will be unfamiliar with which also seems to breath a bit of fresh air into the franchise and means there is an element of uncertainty about what exactly will happen - Nothing is a “given”. Who are these people? What do they want? What do they stand for? This film sets all of that up and, of course, opens the doors for further films.

Thunderbolts heralds welcome change in the MCU that will keep everyone guessing as to what happens next…Fun and entertaining to watch with engaging characters and an unpredictable story but still with loads of superhero action.

Stick around for the post-credits for a nod to the recently released The Fantastic Four: First Steps film.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2025-09-27

Directed by: Jake Schreier

Studio: Marvel Studios

Year: 2025

Length: 127 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20969586/