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Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, and Florence Pugh in “Thunderbolts*”.
“Thunderbolts*” (126 min, Rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references) 7 out of 10
The superhero genre has been at the center of cinematic fantasy and escapism for the last 25 years, and Marvel Comics has been at the center for most of its unprecedented popularity — with DC Comics playing second fiddle. Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe has slowed down since “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, there have been some bright spots since, especially Spider-Man.
But even the powers that be at Marvel, and Disney, knew they couldn’t ride that train any longer, and the most recent release of “Captain America” and now “Thunderbolts*” is hoped to reinvigorate the franchise to its former glory years. The studio recently announced another “Avengers” movie set for May 2026, but sources now say it’s May 2027. Some of the returning cast was announced, but there’s room for more — and “Thunderbolts*” is intended to be part of it.
Key characters have been assembled from previous Marvel films like “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” “Ant-Man,” “Falcon & the Winter Soldier,” and “Black Widow” now featured as a rag-tag team of misfit anti-heroes to extend the ongoing saga of superheroes to the next level. As scripted by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo and directed by Jake Schreier, this 36th edition of the MCU is designed to get us acquainted with a new set of superheroes joining the reemergence of the Avengers, which in this film, don’t exist. The Avengers were disbanded in “Endgame.”
Time to get them back, but not just yet. If you’ve been paying attention, a reboot of “Fantastic Four” is coming out this July and is expected to have a role in this. But for this film, the story revolves around returning supporting characters from those previous films, Yelena (Florence Pugh), Black Widow’s adoptive sister; John Walker (Wyatt Russell) from “Falcon & the Winter Soldier”; Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from “Ant-Man”; Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko); Red Guardian (David Harbour) also from “Black Widow” and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) from countless films.
Derived from the 1997 comic, what’s at the center of these side-B superheroes is a new villain, Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a high government official bent on shaping the U.S. government to her own dastardly will, and Bob (Lewis Pullman), a nerdy, clueless dupe who Valentina had subjected to a mysterious medical experiment to make him nearly invincible. As much as Bob becomes a foe to these reluctant allies, as Sentry (then as the “Void”), the franchise has other uses for him. What’s different in this film from the others is that it features more nonsensical humorous banter and a deep-rooted empathetic spin on the mental health of two of its characters.
Anchoring the film is Florence Pugh as Yelena (Red Guardian’s pseudo father), featured in several flashbacks to her troubled youth (and abuse), who, in spirit, serves as this group’s Iron Man, that through the course of the story will bind them as the fighting force dubbed Thunderbolts. Also in a significant role is Dreyfus who hisses and schemes her villainy across the screen. Everyone plays serviceable roles including newcomer Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) as Valentina’s assistant.
And “serviceable” is the operative word in describing the impact of “Thunderbolts*.” On the heels of the recently released “Captain America” and forthcoming “Fantastic Four,” this film plugs in the gap to move the needle closer to reestablishing “The Avengers” franchise, Marvel’s pot of gold. I expect characters from these three films to balance out the next team of save-the-planet heroes.
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”}]] The superhero genre has been at the center of cinematic fantasy and escapism for the last 25 years, and Marvel Comics has been at the center for most of its unprecedented popularity — with DC Comics playing second fiddle. Read More