The Marvel Cinematic Universe gets a much-needed jolt of energy with Thunderbolts*. The asterisk in the title indicates the footnote status accorded to the ignoble superheroes who, despite their skills, are secondary to The Avengers.
Jake Schreier’s fantasy adventure begins on a downbeat note. The deadly assassin Yelena (Florence Pugh) is in a funk, carrying out assignments with as much glee as she might do her laundry. After telling her minder Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) that she wants out, Yelena is offered a final assignment: to capture a thief who has been stealing from a secret facility.
Other second-rung superheroes are at the facility too – John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and the mysterious Bob (Lewis Pullman). The quartet is joined by Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Yelena’s father Red Guardian (David Harbour), all of whom reluctantly join forces to defeat Valentina’s evil scheme.
So far, so typical, but then the film goes into uncharted territory when Bob’s powers are finally revealed. The screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo segues into millennial anxieties about loneliness and alienation while keeping the big-bang action scenes and humorous patter coming along.
Although sticking to the MCU template, Thunderbolts* has a welcome lack of self-importance, a poignant emotional undertow, and a twist that pays off superbly. Save yourselves before you save the world – this message is delivered over 126 fleet minutes, which include a post-credits sequence that links up to the upcoming The Fantastic Four: The First Steps.
The cast has a couple of exciting additions in Lewis Pullman’s superb Bob and Geraldine Vishwanathan as Valentina’s efficient secretary. Florence Pugh proves to be a worthy inheritor to the Black Widow legacy, acing the action as well as Yelena’s world-weary attitude to her messy childhood and complicated adulthood. David Harbour is a hilarious contrast to Yelena’s melancholy.
