Thunderbolts* (Jake Schreier, 2025)

Thunderbolts* is the best Marvel movie in quite a while, and it also benefits from a committed performance by Florence Pugh, who leads a bunch of misfits that could give The Avengers a run for their money.

It’s not always clear who the good and bad guys (and girls) are in this movie. As one character puts it (I’m paraphrasing):‘You grow up with the idea that there is good and bad. But at one point you realize there is bad and something even worse. And that’s all there is.’

I’m not sure I agree with that statement, but in terms of the movie it works. Our heroes are a bunch of anti-heroes and even villains. The bad guys are something else already.

Let’s start with the ‘Bolts. (If that sounds like a sports reference, well, that’s in the movie.) First up, there is the conflicted Yelena (Pugh), who we remember as Scarlett Johansson’s sister from Black Widow, and her obnoxious but weirdly funny father Red Guardian (David Habour), who is the ultimate cliche Russian hero.

There is also Walker (Wyatt Russell), who was Captain America in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, before quickly falling from grace. There is good old Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who is properly famous as The Winter Soldier. And there is Ava (Hannah John-Kamen) aka Ghost, from the Ant Man-franchise.

Its a band of brothers and sisters, who don’t really care for each other but are forced to get along in their battle with big bad, in the form of CIA-director Valentina de Fontaine (Julia-Louis Dreyfus), who wants (shades of Donald Trump here) to become ‘unimpeachable’ and dole out Justice as she sees fit.

Geraldine Viswanathan has an interesting supporting role as Valentina’s conflicted assistant Mel. And then there is Robert Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), who may be in a league of his own as the kind of messed up character straight out of an A24 movie (I know that’s in the marketing but it is also, well, true).

I didn’t mind the last Captain America movie as much as some people, but I enjoyed this one a helluva lot more. It’s got a decent script (from Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo) strong direction (from Jake Schreier), a bunch of great actors looking like they are having fun, and fine or at least good enough special effects.

For Florence Pugh, who rules in every scene that she’s in, this might be the movie that makes her go from star to superstar. It’s also proof positive that doing a big Marvel movie doesn’t have to hurt your career, as long as it’s the right one.

Thunderbolts* won’t win any Oscars, but this movie is no time waster either. You can say all the trauma the characters carry with them , all that psychological stuff only goes skin deep, but it’s probably also good to remember that it’s an action adventure first, second and last too. And it still does give the actors a little more meat to sink their teeth in.

And as comparisons go, no it’s not (The) Suicide Squad and it’s not Guardians of the Galaxy either, it’s got a spirit all of its own.

I think it is worth walking into Thunderbolts* as blind as possible, and yes, that asterisk in the title gets an explanation. Have fun!

Rating: 7 1/2 (out of 10).