The cobbled-together team at the heart of Marvel’s Thunderbolts* is essentially a reject squad. A collection of side characters from across the franchise, and obscure figures of the Marvel canon to boot -some of whom had been written off, some of whom had been outright villains. And they don’t really belong together -the corners of the Marvel Universe they represent like different puzzle pieces that have been smushed into each other. And yet the movie does an unexpected thing for Marvel in leaning into this, embracing it in fact and using it as a thematic springboard. There’s very much a Suicide Squad tenor to this team, albeit softer and less anarchic, but less cynical too. Marvel may not have the guts to make this team of anti-heroes real bad guys, but in choosing to frame them as outcasts for their moral compromises and haunted by those actions, it opens the door to some very compelling character building.
Of course for boasting an ensemble of previously seen Marvel characters, much of this is concentrated in one figure, which is not entirely bad. Indeed, the smartest decision Marvel made with this thing was letting Florence Pugh be the lead. She is perhaps the strongest new star they have in their stable and Thunderbolts* is as much as anything a trial run to see if she can be a new centrepiece to their universe the way Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans were previously. The ending certainly makes clear their ambitions on that front.
Pugh’s Yelena Belova, introduced in Black Widow and easily a spare highlight of that film, is indeed the central figure here, lost, alone and depressed as she carries out covert missions for a corrupt CIA director played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Valentina de Fontaine. When an impeachment hearing prompts de Fontaine to clear her liabilities, she dispatches Yelena along with other rogue agents working for her, including the super-powered assassin Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) -from Ant-Man and the Wasp, and one-time Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell) -from the series Falcon and the Winter Soldier, to a remote vault where she intends to incinerate them. However they, along with a random amnesiac civilian called Bob (Lewis Pullman) work together and escape; ultimately teaming up with Yelena’s father figure Alexei (David Harbour), a has-been Russian hero, and Sebastian Stan’s seemingly omnipresent Bucky Barnes -now a U.S. congressman- to fight de Fontaine and Project Sentry, an ultra-powerful deadly experiment she has unleashed on the world.
Thunderbolts* (the asterisk does eventually matter) comes from a modestly interesting creative team for Marvel, directed by Jake Schreier of the excellent series Beef, and co-written by Joanna Calo, a veteran writer for BoJack Horseman and The Bear, and for a change these credentials do actually manifest in the film. Its tone is notably a touch more melancholy than your average Marvel movie, as it hones in early on Yelena’s feelings of loneliness and emptiness exacerbated by the tasks she performs. Feelings of regret underpin this, as they do for both Bucky and Walker as well, without even touching on Bob -a vital character for the film- who even before the layers of his mystery are peeled back, is seen to be mentally scarred and plagued by a dismal self-worth. And, at least as far as he and Yelena are concerned, the movie is drawn to discussing these things palpably -even if the terms aren’t quite allowed.
But then, as a superhero movie, it has licence to expand on them in really strong metaphorical ways. The ultimate villain is not actually de Fontaine, cruel and power hungry though she may be; it is in essence a version of the Nothing from The NeverEnding Story -a manifestation of apathetic emptiness and darkness that risks consuming the world, and these heroes are already pretty susceptible to its effects. The movie feels more mature as a result, the flashes we get to one incident from Yelena’s childhood (a seeming power of Bob’s when he touches someone) that is legitimately very troubling, has some concrete weight, and especially how Pugh plays it, instantly commanding the movie’s sense of gravitas. Yet, she just as readily can play the human heart to this character, an empathetic core that the Widows weren’t able to drill out of her -and she even makes out okay with the lame humour. Pullman likewise is a stand-out through each shift we witness in Bob’s sad yet quirky personality, remaining a fundamental magnet for these themes of disillusionment and depression, so resonant to the climate that the movie has released in. And in grappling with those so seriously and with such intent, I loved a lot what this movie was attempting to be.
Of course, there's the catch. And in spite of my appreciation for the effort, the movie doesn't fully land its ambitious points. A lot of it comes down to a lack of substance and with a few exceptions, a disinterest by Marvel to explore such topics beneath a surface level. We get an abstract darkness and acknowledgments of deep trauma, but little real psychological examination of them. There's one great scene where Yelena unloads to Alexei the listlessness and hopelessness she has been feeling, and it is emotionally potent -but it is in isolation. And nobody else is given such an outlet. Much is made of the failings of these characters and their need for redemption, yet very little is required of them to achieve it, the barest of personal growth for the gang outside of Yelena and Bob. Alexei and Walker, though they have their moments, are very underdeveloped -Walker especially never growing out of his asshole tendencies, Bucky seems inducted into the group out of obligation, and Ghost is often forgotten about entirely -a shame, given I did quite like her story from that Ant-Man film. The exposition and pacing actively hurts their sense of comradery as a team as well -never do the Thunderbolts (named after Yelena's peewee soccer team) translate more as an alliance of convenience, despite the film's climax depending on them being closer than that.
Still, it must be acknowledged the movie has real qualities a step above the average for the MCU. There are a couple more inventive beats -a crawl up an elevator shaft by the four prisoners is particularly nicely done -with some decent banter from the conflicting personalities not really matched elsewhere. There is a pretty good road chase sequence also, silly though aspects of it are; and in particular a fight sequence at the close of the second act that cycles through each hero attempting to take down the villain that is shot to look like a single take -a rare stylistic flourish for a Marvel film and certainly worthwhile -it is one of the best fight scenes in the series. And though the emotional build-up for the climax as far as the team is concerned is ultimately unsuccessful, it is quite strong on its creative and technical choices, and in its willingness to be carried to difficult places thematically off the back of Pugh, who mostly saves it single-handedly.
And it would be a great note to go out on, if not for the mundanity of the film's final resolution and notably long post-credits scene. From a movie that seemed to have aspirations to push beyond MCU formula, it ultimately retreats back to a status quo, albeit a more shaky status quo than what the universe enjoyed in the 2010s. It demonstrates that while Thunderbolts may play at charting new territory for these films, the actual interest in going in a new direction is minimal. The film warrants due praise however for where it does push past the norms, and though its execution is wanting, its conception is bold and admirable. A little more ingenuity and a little more Florence Pugh left to do her thing makes up for a lot.
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