The Superhero movie genre has definitely felt a bit overworked lately, and there’s no shortage of film adaptations of comic book characters on the horizon. Some of the more recent Marvel movies have met with mixed reactions from audiences, and Marvel Studios is ramping up to some pretty big releases, such as FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS and AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY. But before we get to that, we’re getting THUNDERBOLTS*, which is already being called Marvel’s answer to the SUICIDE SQUAD concept… and that’s a fair comparison, even if the end result is quite different in many ways. The other Marvel release this year, CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, was a film that takes for granted that the audience had watched all of THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER on Disney+, and if you hadn’t then it’s safe to say you might be a bit lost with many of the story details. THUNDERBOLTS* is a film that assumes you’ve seen both the BLACK WIDOW movie, along with the HAWKEYE series and THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER as well. I’m curious why Marvel Studios doesn’t at least do a short recap of these events for audiences who maybe haven’t seen those other things, as it would certainly help folks understand story elements better.

This new film focuses heavily on Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), the new Black Widow still lamenting the loss of her sister Natasha Romanoff (who died in AVENGERS: ENDGAME). Yelena feels lost and alone, and lacking in purpose. She’s working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who herself is facing government impeachment and the potential loss of her top secret political power, and realizes agents like Yelena could incriminate her further. At one point Yelena visits her father Alexei (David Harbour), who used to be Russia’s answer to Captain America called The Red Guardian, but is now living a lazy life as a part-time limo driver. He sympathizes with her frustrations, but doesn’t know how to help her. Valentina assigns Yelena to infiltrate a top secret base, where she encounters John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), all sent to attack each other, quickly realizing this was Valentina sending them there to be killed off. Inside the base, they discover “Bob” (Lewis Pullman), an experiment of sorts that wakes up but doesn’t know where he is or why he’s there. As they escape, they are now on the run from Valentina’s “clean up” efforts, and eventually Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) tracks them down, only to find out Valentina has a back up plan that even together they may not be able to defeat.

While there are certainly action sequences and fight scenes in the film, THUNDERBOLTS* is actually more about the emotional impact and mental health of those put in these positions, and how it determines or inhibits their actions, both with Yelena and others. And for that reason, this movie is very much something different from what audiences may expect, and it might result in the material being more relatable to many. It’s a refreshing take on the genre, and one that is long overdue in a time when so many of these movies tend to feel too familiar. I was pleasantly surprised with how THUNDERBOLTS* handled these characters and the story, as it moves into unique territory rather effortlessly. I always wondered why the BATMAN movies didn’t delve more into the psychological effects of Bruce Wayne and how he separates himself from Batman. This movie takes that sort of thing on directly, and really examines how the life of a superhero (or even antihero with superior abilities) is anything but glamorous or perfect.

The performances are all really solid, with Florence Pugh shining in the lead as Yelena, a character who is really good at what she does, but clearly is very unsatisfied and psychologically tortured. Her dark past cannot be escaped, so she must learn to face it head on, and learn how to use it as a way to move forward. Pugh was a standout in BLACK WIDOW, and she once again commands the screen quite well here. David Harbour is also excellent as her ambitious father, always trying to say positive things, even if he has no reason to think positively. He loves Yelena and wants the best for her, but he’s helpless to give her the advice she truly needs. He’s the comic relief in a way, but still finds emotional beats to give his character a powerful presence. Wyatt Russell was really good on THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER as the failed Captain America, but here he’s more of the main antagonist in the group, the “Negative Nancy” who causes more problems than he does help. Hannah John-Kamen sadly isn’t given much to do aside from use cool powers and find herself reluctantly helping the others in the team. Julia Louis-Dreyfus does a good job playing the manipulative ring leader here, but her motivations seemed confusing beyond her just covering her own butt to avoid political persecution, though by the end of the film you could question whether she knew what she was doing all along. The character I wanted more from here was Bucky played rather solemnly by Sebastian Stan, as other than looking really cool and tough, he just doesn’t have much to say or do in the script, which is surprising seeing how developed the character was previously. I did however enjoy Lewis Pullman as “Bob” aka Sentry, who is easily the most layered and interesting character in the story, and brings the team together in more ways than one.

Directed by Jake Schreier (BEEF), this movie will likely hit differently with folks depending on their expectations, but I genuinely hope moviegoers see the more cerebral and intellectual aspects on display here. I respect the filmmakers for trying something different, and found the end result very refreshing and inspired. Mental health is a serious and prevalent issue, and it’s bold for a superhero movie to put it front and center. But don’t worry, this being Marvel Studios, the film still manages to set up future events in a surprising and potentially huge way, especially in the final moments. Stay through the credits for two stingers, one played for laughs and one used as a major teaser for a future film. Marvel… please, do more like this.

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