Early this past May, Thunderbolts*, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, made its theatrical debut. Now later this month – not even three full months after hitting theaters – the movie is officially streaming through Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango at Home and is scheduled for physical release July 29. That is a heck of a turnaround for this movie, whose story (its foundation) bridges marvel’s cinematic and television universes. Why Marvel and its parent company, Disney, decided on such a fast turnaround is anyone’s guess, but that is beside the point here. As noted, the movie’s story serves as its foundation and does surprisingly well at that. This will be discussed shortly. The work of the movie’s cast adds to its appeal and will be addressed later. For all of the positives herein, there is one notable negative to the whole in its new and forthcoming home releases. That sole negative is the bonus content that accompanies the movie. More specifically, there is one glaring omission from the bonus content that detracts from the presentation. This will be discussed a little later. It is not enough to doom the movie in its home release, but certainly would have improved the viewing experience. To that end, the movie still proves a surprisingly positive addition to any Marvel fan’s library and really the best movie that Marvel has offered audiences in some time.
Thunderbolts*, the newest entry in Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding cinematic universe, is the first largely positive offering from the company in some time. Its overall success is based largely in its story. The story is simple. A group of former villains unwittingly comes together thanks to the efforts of one Valentina de Fontaine to cover up her illegal actions. De Fontaine brings the group – John Walker/U.S. Agent, Ava Starr/Ghost, and Yelena Bolova – together in an O.X.E. facility to have the trio killed as part of her efforts to cover up her actions. Of course, the group does not die, but instead survives, bringing along with them the unlikely “friend,” Robert Reynolds. At first Reynolds seems useless to all involved, but later on becomes the center of the story as he becomes another Marvel hero, Sentry, due to De Fontaine’s nefarious work. The group, who is eventually joined by Bolova’s adopted father, Alexei Shostakov (Red Guardian), sets out to reveal De Fontaine’s illegal work after surviving the attempt on their life, not knowing at first what is happening to Robert until the group reaches New York. Once the revelation is made, that becomes the center of the story as the quartet is left to stop his evil alter ego, “The Void.” The quartet defeats “The Void” if only temporarily, leading to the surprise finale.
Keeping in mind everything noted, the story herein is relatively easy to follow from the beginning to the end of its run time, which barely surpasses the two-hour mark. That run time alone is positive, considering how long so many Marvel movies have been in recent years. Adding to the positive therein is its pacing. The story’s pacing adds to its appeal thanks to the attention to detail clearly put into the writing. At no point will viewers feel lost or left behind. Act I sets up the situation – De Fontaine is in trouble with the government and plans on how to get out of her hot water. Act II finds the unlikely anti-heroes coming together to form the new team of heroes. Act III finds the group facing the big bad (“The Void”) and overcoming that evil. It’s simple enough. Keeping this in mind, the story and its pacing go a long way toward making this movie appealing.
While the movie’s story and its pacing are clear positives to its presentation, the movie has one minor flaw in its new home release. That flaw comes through its bonus content. Three bonuses accompany the movie in its new home release: a bonus focusing on Yelena’s early base jump titled “Around The World and Back Again,” “Assembling a Team To Remember,” which features snippets of interviews with the movie’s cast, and “All About Bob, Sentry & The Void.” This latter bonus is the problem. Its title is misleading to say the least. It provides absolutely no background on the comics history of Sentry. Established comics fans obviously know that history but for the less initiated, those audiences will know far less. Not having that introduction to the character and his place in the Marvel universe only hurts the movie. It does not doom the movie, but certainly would have helped the presentation.
On a related note, the movie is subtitled, “The New Avengers.” De Fontaine even calls the group “The New Avengers” in the movie’s scene (not to give away too much). The problem here is that only two of the characters in this movie – Bucky and Sentry – would eventually be part of the New Avengers in the Marvel comics universe. None of the others were ever part of the New Avengers, so having that very title used both in the movie and its title is inaccurate and misleading. There is no discussion on this aspect of the movie, either. So that detracts from the appeal in its own right, too.
The bonus feature “Around The World and Back Again” simply focuses on the base jumping sequence in the movie’s opening minutes. Bolova (played by British actress Florence Pugh – Lady Macbeth, The Falling, The Commuter) jumps off of the Merdeka 118, which is the second tallest building in the world in the sequence. Knowing how many safety efforts were undertaken to make the sequence happen is interesting. Knowing that Pugh clearly did not make the jump herself is not surprising, either. To that end, the whole of the brief featurette is largely forgettable.
Perhaps the most notable of the bonuses is the noted extra, “Assembling A Team To Remember.” It is through this bonus that viewers gain more appreciation for the movie’s story. That is because it is explained throughout the segment, the secondary story within the movie is more about people who are trying to find their place in the world; It is about not wanting to be alone. This in-depth discussion as it applies to each character will hit viewers in the feels so to speak. That is because of its ability to connect with viewers, considering that everyone faces those thoughts daily. It is this bonus feature that together with the story and its pacing, makes for more appeal for this movie, but not the last positive.
Rounding out the most important of the movie’s positives is the work of its cast. Pugh leads the way alongside Wyatt Russell (22 Jump Street, Overlord, Night Swim), Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick, Lessons in Chemistry, Outer Range) and David Harbour (Black Widow, Hellboy, Revolutionary Road). Pugh’s deadpan reactions to Pullman’s delivery early on makes for so many laughs. That is because it is that classic odd couple type of presentation that has made for so many laughs in movies and television shows throughout the modern history of entertainment. Pugh is the straight man…er…woman in this case to Pullman’s dopey comic character (at least early on). Meanwhile Harbour and Russell generate comic relief of their own throughout the movie. At the same time, that latter pair also provides some heartfelt moments that thankfully do not go over the top. One has to feel somewhat sorry for fellow cast member Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and The Wasp, Ready Player One, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City), who plays Ava/Ghost. She makes the most of her time on screen but it seems is used more as a foil to her cast mates throughout the story. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who reprises her role as Valentina (from Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which streamed on Disney+), does just as well to make it easy to despite Valentina. All of the work noted combined, the cast makes it so easy to want to keep watching this movie. When the collective’s applause-worthy work is considered alongside the movie’s story, its pacing and writing, the whole therein does more than enough to make this movie worth watching, even despite the lack of any memorable bonus content. All things considered, Thunderbolts* proves to be one of the best of Marvel Studios’ entries to date and worth watching at least once.
Thunderbolts*, the latest addition to Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe (and its second movie so far this year behind Captain America: Brave New World), is a strong new entry in the bigger MCU. That is due in part to its story and its related writing and pacing. The story briefly tells how its unlikely band of misfits comes together and eventually has to stop an unlikely force from destroying the world. It is that simple. The story’s pacing and execution add to the appeal in that they make it so easy to follow the story. The bonus content adds at least a tiny modicum of appeal, but only through one of its extras. The other additions do little if anything to make themselves memorable. The cast’s work on screen rounds out the movie’s positives. That is because it makes for so much entertainment in its own right. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie. All things considered they make Thunderbolts* well worth watching. In watching, viewers will agree it is one of Marvel Studios’ best offerings in a long time.
Thunderbolts* is streaming now through Amazon Video Prime, Apple TV and Fandango at Home. It is scheduled for physical home release July 29. More information on this and other titles from Marvel Studios is available at:
Website: https://www.marvel.com
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/marvel
