By Kimberly Grant
Let’s face it. At this point, Marvel needs a win. The reception for the last few MCU films (except for Deadpool & Wolverine) has been lukewarm. Personally, I have enjoyed most of the movies, but not everyone agrees with me.
The latest Marvel film, Thunderbolts*, has some big expectations heaped on its head.
The B Team
Billed as something along the lines of The Avengers with B-level characters, all of them are previous villains. There’s Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh), Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff’s baby sister and former villain in Black Widow and season one of Hawkeye. Yelena and Nastasha’s dad, Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) was a villain type in Black Widow.
John Walker (Wyatt Russell) was the disgraced Captain America in Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) was a villain in Ant-Man And The Wasp. James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) was the Winter Soldier who wreaked havoc in two Captain America movies and Tony Stark’s life. And then there’s Robert “Bob” Reynolds (Lewis Pullman). We don’t know who or what Bob is, but he becomes a major focus on the story.
In the film, written by Eric Pearson (with a story credit) and Joanna Calo, the above are all anti-heroes struggling to find purpose in an after-being-a-villain life. They all work for a new villain named Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus who is perfect for the role). Valentina is the director of the CIA and on the board of Ox. Ox is basically a new iteration of Hydra with a Miranda Priestly type at the helm. Ox has been running illegal experiments for a while under Valentina, which has led to her impeachment proceedings.
Look & Feel
Thunderbolts* looks gritty like a DC movie, but feels like classic Marvel-style Avengers. There’s a big battle in New York City. Stark Tower gets a refresh; again. The villain is someone you love to hate. There’s humor injected throughout the movie to undercut the dark themes. And there are some interesting celebrity cameos, like Wendell Pierce as Congressman Gary, Chris Bauer as Ox top soldier Holt, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Valentina’s assistant Mel. Sadly, we’ll never get a Stan Lee cameo again, but I digress.
Thunderbolts* feels like the Marvel of old when the X-Men movies were their major franchise and Tony Stark was yet to be approached by Nick Fury. Those were the good ole days and they seem to be coming back.
Director Jake Schreier does a great job of giving us characters to root for, even Alexei. The story is fleshed out and the film manages to entice fanboys and fangirls back to the theater.
To read more reviews by K.A. Grant, you can view her Entertainment Blog.
