Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” Review – Better Than Expected!

I went to see Marvel’s new “Thunderbolts*” film on Friday, and it was surprisingly much better than I expected. Marvel’s recent films have been very hit and miss, with a couple of exceptions like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” or “Deadpool and Wolverine.” “Thunderbolts*” is a strong improvement for the MCU, even though comic book fans will find a lot of changes from the source material.

I will start out as spoiler-free as possible before moving on to some spoilers for the film.

The film is basically about things that sound like they would be boring but aren’t, like government corruption, scientific experiments, and mental health issues. Normally, I would not watch a movie like this, but it works.

It’s also about trying to be better even after you feel like you are past help.

The focus of the film is Yelena; she is the character we follow throughout, but it’s also an ensemble film with various Marvel anti-heroes learning how to work together because they have to. John Walker and Ghost are also learning to work with others. Red Guardian and Bucky are there as well, although they have already moved on with their lives, and have to come to help the others.

Currently, the film has an 88% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. More importantly, it has a 94% audience score. The Audience score is more important.

It also boasts an A- Cinemascore.

Overall, I would give the film an 8.5 / 10.

The plot is crazy, but it works. I was a fun movie, that has heart and character growth.

Spoilers ahead

If you do not want to be spoiled, leave the article now.

You are still here and I assume you want to know the plot.

Here is what happens in the film….

The basic plot of the film is that Yelena, John Walker, Ghost, and Task Master have been “clean up” for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and her research and underhanded antics. Yelena starts off blowing up a lab in Malaysia. After that she realizes she is sad and unfulfilled and wants to try doing more good.

Val is in the middle of an impeachment trial, which is why she wants to destroy any evidence of her wrong doing.

Bucky is now a senator trying to help get Val impeached.

Red Guardian is running a limo service but yearns to be back in the spotlight again.

The action kicks off when Val sends Yelena to capture someone trying to “steal” from one of her installations. But it turns out that she sent all four of her clean up people in with orders to target each other. Yelena’s target is Ghost, John Walker’s target is Yelena, Ghost’s target is Task Master, and Task Master’s target is John Walker. After they kill Task Master off in the beginning of the film, they all realize they are loose ends and Val is trying to kill them.

Meanwhile, a man in hospital PJs appears in the locked room. His name is Bob, and he doesn’t know how he got there.

The trio is forced to work together with Bob to get out. However, anytime someone touches Bob’s than, they have a flashback to a point of guilt in their lives.

Yelena is particularly protective of Bob, and they talk about feeling like they have a void in their lives. Meanwhile, Red Guardian is driving Val and overhears her plans to destroy the installation with her in it.

Of course, Bob turns out to be Sentry. He tries to sacrifice himself to save the others and ends up activating his powers, where he is eventually knocked out and captured. The other three escape and are walking in the open when Red Guardian saves them. Later, they are captured by Bucky, who wants them to testify against Val.

Val has Bob, and she is trying to make him her puppet by acting maternal because she knows about his drug and mental health past. He was a test subject who survived to become Sentry, the ultimate force of good. However, his mental health made him a test subject but he was never supposed to be the “one” to wield the power.

Bucky and company face off with Sentry, but he easily kicks their butts. Val wants him to kill them, and when he refuses, a kill switch is activated, which turns Sentry (Bob) into Void.

This leads to Void spreading his darkness across NYC and turning people into soot shadows. The team tries to save as many as they can, but Yelena deliberately gets sooted and wakes up in a maze of guilt rooms till she finds Bob.  When they try to escape, the room fights back, but the team arrives, and they work together to try to leave.

The final room has Void and while Bob is beating up his literal demon, he starts to turn into Void and the teach tell him he’s not alone, and they end up on the street as the shadow dissipates.

Val then tells the press that she was behind the new team and they are the New Avengers, to save her own butt. Hence the asterisks.  It means “Thunderbolts*  – New Avengers and Bob.

The end features all kinds of “news” articles in known publications about the characters leading into the post-credit scenes.

That is basically it for the film. It is actually a fun watch because the character dynamics and interactions make a lot of the film.

I fully expected to not like the movie but was pleasantly surprised. Given the Rotten Tomatoes scores, it seems that others also enjoyed the film.

What are the mid-credit and end-credit scenes?

Mid-credit scene.

A woman is shopping in the cereal aisle. Red Guardian is there shopping too in civilian clothes. He and the other “New Avengers” are on the box of Wheaties, and he keeps trying to get her to notice that it’s him. Eventually, the woman takes the box of cereal and as she exits the aisle, she lays it down and leaves.”

Big end-credit scene. 

In this scene, it’s 14 months later.  Sam Wilson (Captain America) is setting up a new Avengers team and has trademarked the name. Meanwhile, an interdimensional ship has entered Earth’s atmosphere, and you, as you likely guessed, it is the Fantastic Four rocket.

Leading into “Fantastic Four: First Steps” releasing in July 25, 2025.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!