I don’t know if anyone else has started experiencing “superhero fatigue” due to an oversaturated market, but I sure am!
Superhero fatigue was coined in 2019 and seems relevant when anyone looks at the box office and television show lineups since then.
However, I’m here to tell you that “Thunderbolts*” doesn’t feature too many monsters to fight – unless you count someone’s personal demons.
While I think it was an attempt to humanize heroes further, I also found it overall enjoyable due to its portrayal on the big screen.
Anyone who has close friends and family or who has themselves dealt with depression, anxiety, isolation, and even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can recognize the signs the morally gray antiheroes face.
Plus, the infusion of dark humor and classic technique of bottling up one’s emotions plays out through the whole film.
Thunderbolts* is an American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the team Thunderbolts.
Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film was directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, and stars an ensemble cast featuring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Coming in at 126 minutes long, the movie is rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.
In Malaysia, Yelena Belova (Pugh) destroys a laboratory on behalf of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Dreyfus) to conceal her involvement with the O.X.E. Group’s “Sentry” superhuman project.
As de Fontaine faces imminent impeachment for her work with O.X.E. Group, she dispatches Belova, John Walker (Russell), Ghost (Kamen), and Taskmaster (Kurylenko) to a covert O.X.E. facility under the pretense of a mission.
Once there, the operatives are pitted against one another in a deadly confrontation where Ghost kills Taskmaster before they unexpectedly discover a mysterious man named Bob (Pullman).
Upon learning that they were sent by de Fontaine to be incinerated along with any evidence of her misconduct, they manage to escape from the trap.
De Fontaine learns that the group has survived, including Bob, who was presumed dead during the Sentry trials.
When she arrives at the site, Bob creates a diversion by drawing enemy fire, allowing Belova, Walker, and Ghost to escape, only to sustain no injuries despite being shot.
Bob then uncontrollably ascends into the air before passing out and crash-landing back at the compound, where he is captured and transported to the former Avengers Tower in New York City, now renamed the “Watchtower”.
De Fontaine intends to introduce Bob to the press as a super-powered protector akin to the Avengers, hoping the PR stunt will avert her impeachment.
Meanwhile, Alexei Shostakov, who had overheard details of de Fontaine’s plot while working as a freelance chauffeur, rescues Belova, Walker, and Ghost.
Inspired by Belova’s childhood soccer team, Shostakov dubs the group the “Thunderbolts”.
Things only get more complicated and literally darker from there.
Still, the movie ends on a positive note and a decent injection of humor despite the heavy material tackled.
If you’re game to see how this sets up the next phase of MCU films, see it in theaters now, and don’t forget to catch extra scenes after the credits.
