Movie Review: Thunderbolts* (2025)

Thunderbolts* (2025) directed by Jake Schreier

Yelena (Florence Pugh), sister of the now deceased Black Widow, is doing covert black-ops for Valentina de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Valentina has a lot of work to get done because she's left her O.X.E. corporate job to be head of the CIA. O.X.E. has been doing a lot of bad, illegal things, so Yelena has been blowing a lot of stuff up. After her latest mission, she goes to see her father Alexei (formerly the Red Guardian, a sort of Captain America of Russia played by David Harbour). She's hoping for advice on dealing with ennui and wanting to quit her job. Alexei says he's content with running a limo service but as soon as he hears she has a line on covert ops work, he wants in. It's not the best father-daughter situation. Meanwhile, newly elected Congressman Bucky Barnes (formerly the Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan) is on the committee trying to impeach de Fontaine, who is trying to stay squeaky clean in the public eye.

Yelena's next assignment is to take out a thief about to infiltrate a secret bunker in Utah that has a lot of O.X.E. equipment and secrets. When she gets there, she finds Taskmaster, US Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John -Kamen) all on similar missions to wipe each other out. As they fight, they release Bob (Lewis Pullman), a civilian who doesn't know anything about what is going on or even why he is there. The group winds up working together to make it out of the bunker (which is set to incinerate them along with all the incriminating evidence) and are forced into partnership against de Fontaine's schemes.

The movie has plenty of action and comedy but the main theme deals with dark pasts, loneliness, and depression. A lot of the characters struggle with what they have done and what they are doing now with their lives. The plot is a bit darker and moves toward a psychological resolution unlike most Marvel films' big fights. 

Except for Bucky, I haven't been that much interested in any of these characters, who were side characters in other superhero films and TV series. I have a lot more affection for them and am actually looking forward to what comes next for Marvel, which I haven't been able to say for quite a while.

Recommended. I like Captain America: Brave New World a bit better, but not by much.