Thunderbolts

Image credit: IMDb

Reluctant, unexpected, and antiheroes are characters that always add a bit of fun and spice to a genre that can be stifled and restricted by its narrative binaries of good vs. evil. While the superhero genre works similarly to fantasy, with magic being replaced by science-fiction explanation, it ventures further into the unexplored frontier of the human condition than the former, examining the swings between anticipated and contradictory behaviours in people in tandem with their personalities and their social, mental, economical, and geographical environments. The narrative aspect of the antihero or unexpected hero is a popular one in the superhero genre, as it explores the dichotomy of good and evil by truncating and localising it to within the personal parameters of the individual. It then grows from there, case in point: Batman.

What station did this train of thought come from? I recently sat down and watched Marvel’s Thunderbolts.

A group of mercenaries are sent on an assignment by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fonataine to eradicate some loose ends that tie the director to the O.X.E Group’s ‘Sentry’ project to create a new ultimate superhuman. But upon arrival they realise that the assignment is a trap and they are the ‘loose ends’. Working together to fight their way out, the group then make it their mission to ensure that Valentina is impeached for her crimes, but things take a turn when one of their number is revealed to be a successful patient of the ‘Sentry’ procedure. Unfortunately, the procedure also empowered the dark alter-ego of Bob, the amnesiac patient, and suddenly a quest of revenge turns into one of saving the world from The Void.

Thunderbolts has been loosely labelled as Marvel’s Suicide Squad, but the similarities between the two films really do stop at the fact that the superhero group is made up of not-superheroes. While Suicide Squad was about villains being put into a position where they have to save the day, Thunderbolts is made up of a rag-tag team of impressive people who are remorseful about their past actions. The line-up includes former Black Widow Yelena Bolova, Red Guardian Alexei Shostakov, Captain America understudy John Walker, Ghost Ava Starr, and the Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes.

Image credit: IMDb

The film is an exploration into the mental minefield of anxiety and depression and the ways we can get through it. Imposter syndrome rans rampant throughout the team, but it’s through external support as well as internal fortitude that they can overcome their mental humps and help other people. While subtlety is not necessarily at the forefront of the film, with the Big Bad being a literal bipolar opposite to the Sentry, the nods to and explorations of various mental illnesses as well as everyday anxiety and depression bring the heroes down to earth and delivers a very encouraging message about exceptional people going through the same shit we do.

Like its predecessors, the film is a good balance of action, narrative exposition, character development, and comedy, with a refreshing take on the Avengers origin story of a group of exceptional people brought together to become something more.

Director: Jake Schreier, 2025

Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Geraldine Viswanathan, & Wendell Pierce