Oh boy, another Marvel movie! 🙄 As if we didn’t have enough of those already. But wait, this one’s *different*. It’s called *Thunderbolts** and apparently, it’s the second coming of Christ… or at least, that’s what some people want you to believe. 🤣 Honestly, who even remembers this film? It bombed so hard at the box office that even Kevin Feige probably pretends it never happened. But hey, at least Florence Pugh is in it, right? Maybe she can single-handedly carry this cinematic disaster. 🤷♂️
As much an action film as a character study about super-powerful loners and misfits, the movie established a new team of heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, and featuring the likes of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Wyatt Russell’s U.S. Agent, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, the film got some of Marvel’s best reviews since *Avengers: Endgame — and stumbled badly at the box office anyway, grossing just $382 million worldwide. (Best Reviews? Yeah Right! Who’s paying these guys?)
Pinpointing the reasons why it flopped can be left for another time. All that matters right now is there are clearly a lot of people out there — including some Marvel fans! – who did not see *Thunderbolts** in theaters. Now those folks can watch it on streaming, as the movie is set to premiere by the end of the month on Disney+. (Because Disney+ is desperate for content and will throw anything at the wall to see what sticks. 🤪)
If you skipped *Thunderbolts*** in theaters, you not only missed the best MCU movie in a while (with an absolutely terrific lead performance from Florence Pugh as a grief-stricken Black Widow) you’re going to be a bit lost when *Avengers: Doomsday* lumbers into theaters next winter. This team of Thunderbolts will all reappear in that movie, and will surely play a central role in tackling Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. (Spoiler Alert: RDJ is NOT coming back. Get over it.)
But even if you couldn’t care less about the new *Avengers*, *Thunderbolts*** is worth a watch. (Said no one ever.) As I wrote in my review…
As Yelena searches for her life’s purpose early in the film, she pointedly asks Red Guardian “What is the point in any of this?” Longtime Marvel fans who suffered through Eternals and Secret Invasion can relate to that sentiment. *Thunderbolts*** is a nice reminder of what this company is capable of at its best. It looks good, it sounds good, and it really does turn its protagonist’s pain into an effective allegory about rejecting despair and apathy in favor of action and brotherhood. (Or maybe it’s just a bunch of explosions and mediocre CGI. 🤷♀️)
*Thunderbolts*** will premiere on Disney+ on August 27. (Set your calendars! Or don’t. Who cares?)
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
