Thunderbolts review: "Makes good on the promise of a new start for the MCU"

Every new Marvel project seems to promise a new start for the MCU, but Thunderbolts* might be the only movie in recent memory that makes good on its word. Director Jake Schreier, known for his work on the Steven Yeun-led Netflix series Beef, takes some big swings, and they almost always pay off.

This is in no small part thanks to Florence Pugh's lead performance as Yelena Belova, a character who's back on the big screen for the first time since her MCU debut in the 2021 prequel Black Widow. When Thunderbolts* begins, Yelena is lacking purpose, and she's getting a bit existential with it (although the guard she's holding hostage isn't the most willing listener). She's in the midst of carrying out a string of under-the-table missions for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but her heart isn't in it – and hasn't been since the death of her sister Natasha, AKA Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

Lacking emotional support from hapless father figure and retired super soldier Alexei (David Harbour), Yelena decides to take on one final mission for Val before changing track, but she ends up with a little more on her plate than she thought she signed up for. While she's out in the field, she inadvertently crosses paths with some other aimless antiheroes: John Walker, AKA US Agent/disgraced former Captain America (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr, AKA Ant-Man and the Wasp's antagonist Ghost, Antonia Dreykov, AKA Red Room assassin Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and newly elected congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). And newcomer Bob (Lewis Pullman), who doesn't quite know why he's there, either.

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New ground

Despite a bout of amnesia, Bob soon proves to be vital to the movie – and bringing the titular team together – thanks to his superpowered alter-ego. Coming up against his own demons and those who are keen to exploit a superhero ingénue, Bob is the key to unlocking a different kind of Marvel movie in Thunderbolts*. It puts its characters' comic book pasts on the backburner to focus instead on something a little more humanizing: mental health struggles.

This isn't the first time a superhero movie has tackled similar themes, but Thunderbolts* does push them onto center stage in a way that previous offerings haven't. That thought may make you wince a little – I know I would have if I'd known that going in – but rather than using "mental health" as an empty buzzphrase, the movie makes an admirable attempt to explore what it means to be unwell, and how the state fails those who struggle with mental illness.

The central group dynamic also feels pretty fresh and the way the Thunderbolts bounce off each other helps shake off the tiring, quip-heavy humor of Marvel movies past. It brings to mind the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, although this is still its own beast. For one thing, Russell is having much more fun here than in his last MCU outing, the 2021 TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Walker is a much more interesting character here when he's butting heads (and working together) with his new teammates. On the other hand, the scope of Harbour's performance often seems to be "shouting", but there are still some quieter, more touching moments between Alexei and Yelena that try to anchor the film.

Stan, now an Oscar nominee, is surprisingly underused and takes somewhat of a backseat in the action, but he does pull off one of the funniest moments in the movie, which involves his vibranium arm getting a freshen up in the dishwasher. On the other side of the story, Thunderbolts* sees Val take center stage for the first time after a smattering of appearances in Black Widow, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Louis-Dreyfus doesn't quite seem convinced by all her lines, but she remains great casting as a camp, comic villain.

Missed opportunities

Of course, with any movie that makes some big swings, there are a few misses. As with any popcorn flick, there are a couple of plot points that are a little too conveniently glossed over, particularly in the later acts, and there's nothing to really set the action sequences and fight scenes apart from any other installment in the franchise (that being said, Pugh seriously impresses with a jump from the world's second-tallest building in the movie's opener, a stunt she insisted on doing herself).

Ultimately, Thunderbolts* is trying very hard to be "about something", and it mostly succeeds. The movie is primarily concerned with how we live with the weight of our mistakes, and acknowledges – mostly through Yelena and Bob – that there's no easy solution. It's a sentiment that could easily become saccharine, but Pugh and Pullman are skilled enough performers to pull it off.

What Thunderbolts* really benefits from, though, is a separation from the rest of the shared universe. This might seem like an odd assertion about a movie populated by characters we recognize from other movies and shows (and one that is, admittedly, slightly undercut in the post-credits scenes), but the story works even if you haven't seen them. There are references to past events, sure, but the movie isn't bogged down in the franchise's history. In this movie, it doesn't really matter that it was Black Widow who died; it matters that Yelena is grieving her sister.

Thunderbolts* is out on May 1 in UK cinemas and May 2 in US theaters. For more, check out our guide to the other upcoming Marvel movies on the way in 2025 and beyond.