Thunderbolts*
Year: 2025
Rating: PG-13
Length: 127 minutes / 2.12 hours
The problem with a movie like Thunderbolts* (2025) isn’t necessarily that it feels like yet another reboot of Suicide Squad (2016) but that there are already so many of the heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that have hardly had any meaningful character development so why are we now collecting these semi-villains to fill an obvious gap left by the disbanding of the original Avengers after Endgame (2019)? Sure, it’s fun and the group of anti-heroes shows promise, but it doesn’t quite telegraph a purpose in the larger MCU (similar to how Eternals (2021) kinda went nowhere).
I will give Thunderbolts* some credit: it does a good job of highlighting the mental health struggles of these second-string quasi-heroes who have checkered pasts. The last time we had anything close to this was Tony Stark’s PTSD in Iron Man 3 (2013). And with the introduction of another powerful hero who has dangerous side effects / control issues (Hulk, anyone?), the next large Avengers-scale threat might have some trouble facing off against this rag-tag team. Additionally, the casting for these characters has been great, from David Harbour to Florence Pugh and even Wyatt Russell. It’s just unfortunate that some of the minor characters from other movies get even less time here.
And this is really the crux of Thunderbolts*—all the homework it takes to know who everyone is. Unless you’ve also kept up with the Disney+ shows, you probably don’t know who John Walker is or why he matters. Some of the more unique powers of these reformed heroes were also wasted opportunities, almost as if Marvel doesn’t actually know what to do with them. One can only hope the payoff comes in the Doomsday event, since there’s not much else to look forward to.
Another lower-tier group of former villains brought together as heroes, I give Thunderbolts* 3.0 stars out of 5.
