Let’s be honest: at this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most of us are more emotionally exhausted than Hawkeye at a family reunion. Ever since Endgame, we have gotten dud after dud after dud (save for Shang-Chi, No Way Home, and Dr. Strange 2). But Thunderbolts? Thunderbolts is the jolt of chaotic, dysfunctional energy this franchise desperately needed. But unfortunately, we don’t expect it to do well at the box office.
Imagine if the Avengers got kicked out of group therapy for being too emotionally stable and then had to team up with that one coworker who drinks Red Bull for breakfast and thinks trust falls are a government conspiracy. That’s Thunderbolts—a beautiful mess of morally flexible characters with more red flags than a Six Flags parking lot.
What works here—shockingly well—is the chemistry. This isn’t just a squad of misfits thrown together for a mission. It’s a pressure cooker of personalities that bounces between laugh-out-loud banter and genuine emotional resonance faster than you can say “who greenlit this plan?” Each character gets their moment to shine (and spiral), and somehow, the film balances redemption arcs with reckless violence like a tightrope walker juggling flaming swords. Blindfolded.
The action is tight and brutal, grounded in a way that feels refreshingly personal. There are no sky lasers. No multiverse nonsense. Just boots on the ground, punches in the face, and that creeping sense that everything could fall apart at any second—which only makes it more compelling. Think The Dirty Dozen meets Guardians of the Galaxy, if the Guardians had trust issues and a shared history of bad decisions.
Director Jake Schreier keeps things moving at a steady clip, with set pieces that are less about saving the world and more about surviving each other. The writing—sharp, self-aware, and often scathingly funny—gives these characters the space to be more than just backup dancers to the Avengers. They’re messy, unpredictable, and weirdly lovable.
In a sea of superhero fatigue and overstuffed spectacle, Thunderbolts dares to be a little broken. And in doing so, it delivers something better than perfection: sincerity. It’s not about who saves the day—it’s about who still shows up, even when the cape doesn’t fit.
Verdict? Thunderbolts might just be the MCU’s most unexpectedly human film yet. And also the one most likely to start a bar brawl over semantics. And somehow, that’s a compliment. It’s just too bad that we do not expect a lot of these cinematic rejects and Disney+ disappointments to get the recognition they deserve. The movie is fun but the box office will not be kind to the Thunderbolts*.
