It’s been some time since I wrote a Marvel movie review. In fact, it has been some time since I felt motivated enough to go see a Marvel movie in theaters on opening night. I did see Deadpool and Wolverine on opening night, but that was in the middle of San Diego Comic Con coverage so I didn’t have time to get a review up for that one.
I can’t say what about Thunderbolts* had me more excited to see it than other recent Marvel movies. Perhaps it was the big screen debut of one of my favorite comic characters, John Walker/USAgent played by Wyatt Russell. We first saw Russell play Walker in the Disney+ Falcon And The Winter Soldier series which I mostly enjoyed, but we only saw him as USAgent in the final minutes of the final episode of the series. I am happy to say Walker has a much bigger role in this movie and i thought he did a good job with the character.
Before we go more into that, let’s back up a bit and talk about the synopsis of the movie which focuses on a group of anti-heroes each of whom worked at some point for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. We have seen Fontaine pop up in the MCU before, but this movie gives us the most in-depth look at the character who is the acting Director of the CIA.
Fontaine finds her self in a bit of hot water with Congress over the Sentry project which causes her to start tying loose ends including the anti-heroes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and the aforementioned John Walker. During this process, the anti-heroes discover Bob (Lewis Pullman) who over the course of the movie they discover to be a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Most of you probably already know who Bob is, but just in case I won’t spoil it for you here.
Suffice to say, much action ensues and later the group are joined by Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) which make up the group who call themselves the Thunderbolts. Well OK its mostly Alexei that calls them that.
I should note Stan’s character picks up from where we last saw him in Captain America: Brave New World where he is now a junior congressman.
I think the interactions between all the characters are pretty good in this movie which has a similar feel to the original Avengers movie in that way. Yelena is definitely the linchpin of the team, and I think Pugh does a good job of making the Yelena character interesting and more than just a Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) clone.
I also found the Bob character to be very interesting and felt Pullman did a good job of portraying the different aspects of that character. Going in, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to like him or not.
Another reason I like this movie, and perhaps the most important one, is because it’s the first time since Avengers: Endgame where I truly start to feel like the MCU as a whole has a purpose again and that we finally are building up to something important coming. That is a trend I hope continues with the next movie which will be Fantastic Four in July. In fact, I will say there is something in this movie that happens that actually has me looking even more forward to that one.
I don’t know exactly where I would rank this movie out of all the MCU movies, but I will say that other than perhaps Deadpool and Wolverine, this is the best MCU movie I have seen since Avengers: Endgame.
The movie has a mid-credit and end-credit scene, and the end one is definitely worth waiting for.
Grade: A-
I think fans of USAgent will be happier with his performance.
...without any spoilers obviously
Can anyone tell me if Taskmaster is in the whole movie the trailers lead me to believe she gets killed early on in the movie.
JayC -
2025-05-02 @ 3:40 am
Its been some time since I wrote a Marvel movie review. In fact, it has been some time since I felt motivated enough to go see a Marvel movie in theaters on opening night. I did see Deadpool and Wolverine on opening night, but that was in the middle of San Diego Comic Con coverage so I didnt have time to get a review up for that one.I cant say what about Thunderbolts* had me more excited to see it than other recent Marvel movies. Perhaps it was the big screen debut of one of my favorite comic characters, John Walker/USAgent played by Wyatt Russell. We first saw Russell play Walker in the Disney+ Falcon And The Winter Soldier series which I mostly enjoyed, but we only saw him as USAgent in the final minutes of the final episode of the series. I am happy to say Walker has a much bigger role in this movie and i thought he did a good job with the character.Before we go more into that, lets back up a bit and talk about the synopsis of the movie which focuses on a group of anti-heroes each of whom worked at some point for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. We have seen Fontaine pop up in the MCU before, but this movie gives us the most in-depth look at the character who is the acting Director of the CIA.Fontaine finds her self in a bit of hot water with Congress over the Sentry project which causes her to start tying loose ends including the anti-heroes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and the aforementioned John Walker. During this process, the anti-heroes discover Bob (Lewis Pullman) who over the course of the movie they discover to be a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Most of you probably already know who Bob is, but just in case I wont spoil it for you here.Suffice to say, much action ensues and later the group are joined by Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) which make up the group who call themselves the Thunderbolts. Well OK its mostly Alexei that calls them that.I should note Stans character picks up from where we last saw him in Captain America: Brave New World where he is now a junior congressman.I think the interactions between all the characters are pretty good in this movie which has a similar feel to the original Avengers movie in that way. Yelena is definitely the linchpin of the team, and I think Pugh does a good job of making the Yelena character interesting and more than just a Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) clone.I also found the Bob character to be very interesting and felt Pullman did a good job of portraying the different aspects of that character. Going in, I wasnt really sure if I was going to like him or not.Another reason I like this movie, and perhaps the most important one, is because its the first time since Avengers: Endgame where I truly start to feel like the MCU as a whole has a purpose again and that we finally are building up to something important coming. That is a trend I hope continues with the next movie which will be Fantastic Four in July. In fact, I will say there is something in this movie that happens that actually has me looking even more forward to that one.I dont know exactly where I would rank this movie out of all the MCU movies, but I will say that other than perhaps Deadpool and Wolverine, this is the best MCU movie I have seen since Avengers: Endgame.The movie has a mid-credit and end-credit scene, and the end one is definitely worth waiting for.Grade: A-
AndyL -
2025-04-16 @ 10:04 pm
On 4/16/2025 at 3:45 PM, since83 said:Haven't missed an opening night yet. Not gonna start with this one. I'm pretty optimistic on this one.
I like what I'm seeing so far. I too have a lot of hope this is good. Doesn't have to be great. Just better than most recent attempts. Even Cap 4 was not that good a movie in the overall sense but compared to most recent MCU project it was a success. If Thunderbolts can keep upping the ante and then FF can give it an even bigger boost there may be some hope left.
Haven't missed an opening night yet. Not gonna start with this one. I'm pretty optimistic on this one.
I'm super sold on this. I'm so sold, that I will probably be there opening night and I haven't done that since Endgame. (Though I really wanted to for Wakanda Forever, just got the dates mixed up
JayC -
2025-04-08 @ 1:41 am
On 4/7/2025 at 9:55 AM, MeGrimlock78 said:Hurm...the linked trailers are both "The Void" versions. Was "The Sentry" version pulled already?
Here is the Sentry one
I'm totally excited about this movie, The more I see the more I like, I have high hopes for this, I mean for starters it has a dark and grounded vibe, and I already really love this team, Red Guardian, Bucky, Walker and Yelena are great characters, and I think it's clear they are going to be great together in this movie, Seeing more of Sentry also is promising, he seems like a real threat and very ominous.
I'll be there day 1!
Hurm...the linked trailers are both "The Void" versions. Was "The Sentry" version pulled already?
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