The irony is not lost on me that Marvel Studios, a company that rose to prominence by making movies almost exclusively about superheroes, forgot what superheroes are. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve featured characters in flamboyant outfits with astounding powers punching each other in the head. By doing that, they’re halfway there.

But really, at their best, superheroes are bright and colorful metaphors. Superman, the creation of a pair of Jewish men, is a response to rising antisemitism in the 1930s.* Captain America is a symbol of the best of a country, one that goes beyond mere partisanship. Hell, even the Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman is a metaphor for hidden/repressed female power, though I doubt very much Stan Lee intended that.

That brings us back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the MCU’s quality has been…ah…all over the map. For every Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, there was an Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. For every Hawkeye, there was a Secret Invasion. An air of desperation had settled over the once unstoppable cinematic juggernaut, since those post-Endgame movies were only ever about themselves. Now we have Thunderbolts*, a film I had a genuinely great time with. Again, the irony is not lost on me that the MCU may have regained quality just at the moment when audiences may have decided they’re done with the MCU.

Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) has been through a lot. She lost her family, one that was only ever a cover for a team of spies. She survived the Red Room and became a Black Widow, one of the world’s most feared assassins. She mourned the death of her sister Natasha, a founding member of the Avengers. Now she’s a shadowy operative in the employ of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and she’s on a mission to destroy a mysterious laboratory. No wonder she’s depressed. 

Despite her depression, Yelena completes her mission with both aplomb and a massive explosion. Now she’s ready to move on, to take control of her life, to do something else. She tells Valentina she’s ready to retire. In response, Val assigns her One Last Job, then assures Yelena with a straight face that she’ll help Yelena find a more public-facing position. 

Yelena’s One Last Job is allegedly simple. She’s tasked to travel to a remote underground facility (The best kind!) and destroy evidence, which can be used to impeach Val. Problem is, she’s not the only one there. She’s confronted by John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the USAgent, a disgraced soldier who was Captain America for about fifteen minutes. Also, Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) shows up, also known as Ghost, a spy with the ability to phase through solid objects. Also also, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) shows up, a merc with the ability to mirror the fighting styles of her opponents. 

All of these people are operatives of Val, and all of them have been sentenced to death. Val has ambitions, and the last thing she needs are loose ends. Her plan is to incinerate them, along with any incriminating pieces of evidence. This group of not-at-all heroes must escape and take down Val. To do so, they’ll have the help of far past his prime Russian super-soldier Red Guardian (David Harbour) and former mind-controlled killer turned congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).** Adding a wrinkle to things is the presence of Bob (Lewis Pullman), a former addict who has become…something else.

I know, after reading that plot synopsis, you’re probably thinking Thunderbolts* sounds like a “We have Suicide Squad at home” kind of thing. It’s not, thankfully.*** Director Jake Schreier begins by using the regular Marvel house style, then pushes things visually in an appealing direction. More than a few indie filmmakers have been swallowed up and shat out by the MCU behemoth, and I’m pleased to report Schreier maintains somewhat of his own style. His first hallway fight featuring Yelena features elongated shadows that both show us her mental state and look awesome. While this is a typical twenty-first century blockbuster in that it’s not terribly well lit, Schreier has real skill with color, blocking, and pacing. 

This being a Marvel movie, you can expect a) quips and b) interconnectivity. The time for complaining about that is long past, and getting upset that the MCU requires familiarity with prior installments is like getting upset with Taco Bell for selling tacos.**** Screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo do pump the brakes on both of those aspects a bit. They replace it with effective characterization. Better yet, they know that all of these characters work well as metaphors for mental illness. From Yelena’s depression to Walker’s failure at becoming a hero and more, all of these characters are damaged, traumatized, profoundly screwed up. Rather than playing it for laughs, the script takes it all seriously and effectively. How effective is it? Consider how strange it is that a Marvel movie, the most mainstream piece of entertainment on the planet, is able to portray the feeling of sadness, endless fatigue, and battered hope that’s settled on the country after the election.

The secret ingredient of the MCU has always been the high caliber of actors. Say what you will about the franchise, but they never tolerated slumming name actors half-assing their way through a role for a paycheck. That’s the case here, and the cast is led ably by Florence Pugh. She carries the film effortlessly. Watch her scenes in particular with Lewis Pullman. Watch how Pugh treats Pullman’s Bob as a liability, and how she slowly becomes protective toward this mysterious weirdo. I liked Wyatt Russell’s not-quite-a-hero Walker. He’s someone acutely aware of his own failures, and has no idea how to overcome them. I wished that Hannah John-Kamen had more to do as Ghost, and I have zero expectation that she’ll be given more screen time in an upcoming film. With luck, she hopefully got a nice paycheck.

As I write this, Marvel Studios has spoiled an aspect of Thunderbolts*, though that aspect is one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. Audiences will move on as other installments of the MCU will be released. For now the MCU is still somewhat of a cultural driver, but at some point it won’t be. When that happens, I hope people appreciate the fact that once in a while, the studio built upon superheroes understood them.

*Superman is also an (extremely) obvious metaphor for the American immigrant experience.   

**We re-elected a game show host President, so the idea of an assassin going into politics is less ridiculous than you might think.

***Though the original concept in the comics had more inherent drama. It focused on a team of b-level super villains who exploit a power vacuum when the Avengers are presumed dead. These villains pose as heroes in order to trick the public and take over the world. The only problem is that some of them start to enjoy heroism. Though, could the rug pull of that reveal be successfully hidden?

****Or more accurately, “tacos.”

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.