Thunderbolts* Movie Review
Morgan Azevedo
“Thunderbolts*” was a fantastic movie that was able to satisfy the needs that people need in a film and is highly recommended for people who prefer or enjoy psychological/mental based movies. It goes into a lot of depth with the characters and makes it very easy for the audience to understand and connect with them personally. The concept of the movie was extremely interesting and overall, it was a very beautifully done movie and is definitely worth watching.
It was released in theaters on May 2, 2025 and was directed by Jake Schreier. The final domestic gross for the film after the release date was $190.3 million and globally, it was $382.4 million.
This movie follows a group of misfits who have all been seen in previous Marvel movies, but the main protagonist is Yelena Belova, the younger sister of Natasha Romanoff, or better known as the Black Widow. She continues as an employee who works illegally and on the job that was meant to be her last, she faces other people who end up working under the same person as her, as well as another man named Bob. They find out that their employer, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, is working to get rid of them to hide the illicit sides of her job.
They end up working together to survive and find out that the man with them, Bob, is no normal person and the story begins to revolve around his character. Despite all being misfits who were seen as villains in previous movies, they all come together as a group to save the world from danger and save their new friend, Bob, from the dangers of his own mind and body.
The main thing that stood out in this movie was the personal and mental issues of all of the characters, but mainly Yelena and Bob. We can see throughout the movie that the two clearly are not happy with their current lives and have been struggling for a purpose. This also made it possible for them to bond with each other unlike any of the other characters. Their bond wasn’t built off romantic feelings, but they had a deep understanding of how they felt.
Most people would be particularly drawn to Yelena as a character. She was mentioned twice before in the Marvel universe through “Hawkeye” and “Black Widow.” Through those two, the audience was able to see that she clearly had a hard life and struggled to get back on her feet, but this movie goes into much more depth with that. It is made clear how her sister’s death affected her and how she had no idea what she was going to do with her life going forward. To best describe it, she was made to look like an empty husk of who she used to be. The movie does a great job portraying this, but the real credit goes to the actor who played her, Florence Pugh. She does a great job representing these emotions through her words, her facial expressions, and her body language.
Bob was also a very interesting and mysterious character. His first introduction to the movie was one of many questions, and as the story continued, the curiosity about him grows. We learn that he has had a really hard life and had gone through trials that would have made him “better.” We first learn of his powers when he saves his friends from being caught by soldiers, and then Valentine manipulates him into a project she called Project Sentry. Bob actually becomes the main antagonist towards the end of the film because of Valentine’s influence and even after that, he becomes something bigger, the Void. This villain was filled with so much mystery and was an extremely strong opponent that could keep people on the edge of their seats.
Overall, this film did a great job delivering on the premise and was a movie that could easily captivate anyone. It was able to make most of the world emotional with its overall message and storytelling, satisfying many of the people who watched it. It is the perfect crossover between an emotional and superhero concept and is highly recommended to be watched now that it has been released on Disney+.
