Off the Shelf Media

“We’re brought up with this belief that there are good guys and there are bad guys, but eventually you come to realize that there are bad guys and there are worse guys.”

And then, there are Thunderbolts… 

To preface this review, I grew up in the era of superhero films that included Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002), the introduction of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in X-Men (2000), and an underappreciated rendition of the Fantastic Four (2005). 

By no means does this upbringing make me an expert on the genre, but it does mean I have a passion for these characters and the worlds they reside in. It also means that my social media feeds are teeming with Marvel-related content. 

Nothing ruins a good Marvel movie faster than the Internet. Except this time, Marvel joined in on the fun. 

In case you aren’t chronically online, like myself, I won’t ruin a spoiler for you; however, I want to note that Marvel’s promotional campaign for Thunderbolts* (2025) is an odd one. And it’s one that seriously pissed me off. 

I saw this movie in theaters on only its second weekend after release, a weekend where it secured the #1 box office spot yet again and made $33.1 million, only falling by 57% according to The Hollywood Reporter. Of course, a few spoilers are to be expected. But you never expect the production company to spoil one of the film’s biggest reveals. Marvel did exactly that only a few days into the film’s release. 

Anger aside, the Internet did not do this film any additional favors. 

In true fashion, fans hyped the hell out of this movie. Prior to its release, I predicted that the film would overall be better than the much-anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) starring Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Vanessa Kirby, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. 

How could I not? It has one of the best trailers I’ve seen in a long, long time. But Marvel’s always been exceptional at making trailers (cough, cough – Thor: Love and Thunder – cough).  

However, now having watched it, I do feel that this summer’s Fantastic Four will raise the bar if for no other reason than that the Internet praised Thunderbolts* as being better than it was. 

Certainly not helping is the fact that I saw Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025) the weekend before. Sinners is undoubtedly a fantastic film all around. Thunderbolts*, in both writing and visuals, is just simply not as good. 

Yet, I went into the theater with excitement and high expectations. While not entirely disappointed, it still is not a perfect film. And fan-driven overhype is writing a check that Thunderbolts*, despite the box office success, is not able to cash, in my view. 

Here’s my (perhaps overly critical) review of Thunderbolts*. 

Performances that pack a punch

One aspect of the film that did not lack in any way was the performance of the ensemble cast. 

I first became a fan of Florence Pugh after seeing her play Yelena Belova for the first time in Black Widow (2021). Though I had also seen her in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019) before that. And, to draw a line in the sand, I think Black Widow is one of the better films post-Avengers: Endgame (2019) that Marvel has put out, and I’m sticking by that! 

Of course, Pugh’s performance should come as no surprise given her long list of awards and nominations for acting. Nobody does sad better than Pugh. And Yelena Belova is a sad woman. 

In addition to a powerhouse performance, she also practically performed this iconic stunt in the opening sequence. 

Pugh certainly steals the show in this one. Diving into Yelena’s past and serving as a voice of reason to a rag-tag team put her front and center in the film. Tying it off with a pretty bow, she also delivers a monologue in the third act that does more than pull on a few heartstrings (though there may be a continuity error there). 

The biggest surprise from the bunch? Lewis Pullman’s performance of Robert “Bob” Reynolds, aka Sentry, aka The Void. Truly, I don’t feel that the movie would have been nearly as good without him. That is not a knock against Steven Yeun, who was originally rumored to be cast as the character but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts, according to Vanity Fair. Yeun, who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mark Grayson in Amazon Prime Video’s animated series, Invincible (2021– ), would certainly make for a great addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But I’m glad it wasn’t as Bob.   

Bob is the heart and soul of the movie. And Pullman pulls it off exceptionally well. 

To be honest, I was also incredibly surprised by Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr, aka Ghost. Fans first see John-Kamen’s Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). In the prior film, I honestly didn’t care too much about her story. Sure, another misunderstood villain. Doing the wrong thing for the right reason due to unfortunate circumstances. But that’s nearly every villain in the MCU, and I couldn’t have envisioned her story going farther than that.

Yet, in Thunderbolts*, you see a side of Ava that makes her relatable without it needing to be shoved down your throat or yelled in your face. In my view, you see a character who never necessarily wanted to be bad then and doesn’t want to be bad now. But what else can she do? Furthermore, there’s something painfully lonely about Ghost at the start of the movie. She is, perhaps, one of the strongest of the group, and yet, she never takes advantage of her powers for personal gain against the rest of the team (mostly). But why doesn’t she? My guess: she was tired of being alone, a theme central to the movie as a whole. 

Serving as comic relief, David Harbour returns as the Red Guardian, the Soviet Union’s attempt to recreate a Steve Rogers’ Captain America type. And also, an embarrassing dad. While I do love David Harbour and Red Guardian, sometimes his foolishness feels a bit unrealistic, especially considering he was supposed to have served in the Soviet army. Sure, it’s no Red Room, but he can’t be entirely oblivious all the time, can he? Again, I love the character, but when you consider it further than surface level, it does take away a bit. 

We also once again see Wyatt Russell as John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, formerly Captain America himself in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). As Walker, Wyatt seems to have a stick shoved where the sun doesn’t shine almost the entire film. Of course, Walker isn’t supposed to be a pleasant person, but he should have a few survival skills. And antagonizing some of the most dangerous characters in the film seems like a poor way to survive. Again, it’s less of a criticism of the actor than it is of the way the character was written.    

And of course, who can forget, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. A character Stan has played so many times that it almost feels as though that is simply who he is now. We also see Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (say that three times fast) and Olga Kurylenko back as Taskmaster. Rounding off the cast is Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel and Wendell Pierce as Congressman Gary. 

All in all, not enough good things can be said about the cast of this movie. The dynamics mesh well, and the performances float seamlessly between angst, anxiety, anger, aggression, and more. Not to mention, in true Marvel fashion, everybody gets their nice quippy jokes in. 

Setting the scene 

While small, another area where the film shined was in the costumes and score of the film. Without going too much into it, the film does well to the design of the comic book characters without being too cartoony or too impractical. Everyone arrives at the scene looking tactical and practical, where applicable. A look fitting for the theme of these characters and this film. 

The score was also a fun surprise. Son Lux especially shines with a theme for Bucky Barnes that isn’t brooding with “It’s Bucky!” and the “Thunderbolts*” theme that feels reminiscent to Alan Silvestri’s “The Avengers” while still being unique enough and staying true to the nature of this new group. 

The road not taken

Okay, time to be a bit critical. 

This film explores an area that Marvel has consistently missed the mark in: mental health.

Before you jump down my throat, yes, I know we see instances of mental health via Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark having a panic attack, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor struggling with alcoholism, and others. Even with Bruce Banner in The Avengers (2012), these themes seemed to be danced around, glazed over, or poked fun at. 

We never dive into the darkness. And that, my friends, is the whole theme of Thunderbolts*. 

My criticism here isn’t that this theme played a critical part in the movie. My criticism is that I felt they didn’t explore it far enough. 

Bob struggles with anxiety, addiction, and schizophrenia. But we don’t really see any of that. It is, to be clear, the main struggle and cause of his alter-ego, The Void, but we get too few shots of Bob before he meets the rest of the team. I would’ve liked them to not shy so much away from these as they did, simply telling the audience about his struggles rather than showing us. 

And it doesn’t just go for Bob. Aside from Yelena, we don’t get to see much of the struggles that led the team here. *Spoiler: Sure, we’ve seen snippets in other movies or shows, and they give us a rehashing statement or two, but a huge part of the film is the characters reliving some of those moments. I wanted to relive those moments with them. And I think it was a missed opportunity not to let us.  

I can understand not wanting to make the film too long to go over content we may have seen before, but I feel it was truly a missed opportunity to omit those scenes in place of a few lengthy action shots or quippy jokes that at times, didn’t always land exactly right.* 

Fast & furious 

Previously, I reviewed James Gunn’s soft relaunch of the DC Studios cinematic universe in the animated show, Creature Commandos (2024– ). In my review, I praise the way Gunn handles delivering to the audience each character’s backstory. Each character receives an episode devoted to divulging their journey, which gives context to how they act and respond to the other characters. Thus, the actions taken later and the relationships they form all make more sense at the season’s conclusion.  

It’s also a similar story. A rag-tag team of criminal misfits is forced by a government agent to team up on missions that could cost them their lives. I’m not going to lie, it’s a cliché I really like. 

However, in Thunderbolts*, the “bonds” that the team forms seem to move really fast with little to support them. Without giving too much away, Yelena has a heart-to-heart with Bob approximately .2 seconds after meeting him. To me, it felt a bit too fast. 

I didn’t get enough from the interactions to believe that a trained assassin would show her heart on her sleeve to a stranger while on a dangerous mission surrounded by people she doesn’t trust. It isn’t that the actors don’t have chemistry, it’s that the writing lacked logic. That rule doesn’t only apply to Yelena. 

These are all characters that have done bad things, and all of the others know that. Of course, they show brief moments of hesitancy to trust one another in the beginning but they offered enough trust to make it convenient for the plot. Maybe I’m being overly critical but I found that to be a tough pill to swallow. 

The road to redemption is long 

Let’s be clear: I did enjoy this movie. It’s a better addition to the MCU than most in recent years. But my expectations were incredibly high given the names behind the production itself. A heavy-handed media rollout and fan praise only raised the expectation, perhaps it was raised a bit too high.

While I am being highly critical of the film, it’s coming from a place of care. I love superheroes, and I love Marvel. Despite some of the clunkers they’ve delivered in the past few years, I still have gone to the theaters to see almost all of them. 

Icarus fell when he flew too close to the sun, and so did Marvel. Now, Marvel needs to prove to me and most other fans that it isn’t just money-grabbing from a devoted fan base. It feels as though we’ve begun on that path. And I hope Fantastic Four can deliver on that. It may even be worth giving Thunderbolts* another watch instead of being so critical. 

Maybe, if the fan-fanatics of the Internet could learn to shut up for five minutes, we could all form our own opinions of Marvel’s newest slate. And maybe, Marvel needs to take a chill pill before jumping onto the next project promotion. 

In all honesty, my biggest complaint is an entirely common one for any story: show me, don’t tell me. And Thunderbolts* relied a tad too much on telling.