By 
Thunderbolts* (2025)
Not super. Not heroes. Not giving up.
When Marvel first announced the Thunderbolts* back in 2022, it was pitched as their answer to The Suicide Squad — a band of villains and anti-heroes pressed into service for a mission no one else would touch. After delays, rewrites, and plenty of speculation, it finally arrives in 2025. The title itself was always marked with an asterisk — a clear placeholder — and Marvel revealed the New Avengers title just days after Thunderbolts* hit theatres. The move instantly reframed the film overnight. On one hand, it risked making the movie feel like a side-quest rather than the next big MCU tentpole. On the other, it retroactively made the film more essential viewing, since you’re suddenly combing through every thread and survivor asking: which of these misfits makes the cut for the next Avengers line-up? That said, it’s a solid and frequently fun entry in the canon, with enough personality to justify its existence.
Earth’s Moodiest Heroes, reporting for duty.
The plot sees Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, deliciously slimy and clearly enjoying herself) assembling a team for a black-ops mission. Her roster includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh, once again grounding every scene with snark and heart), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko, briefly). Their target is Bob Reynolds, a.k.a. the Sentry (Lewis Pullman), a super-soldier experiment gone wrong whose godlike powers make him a ticking time bomb. Taskmaster is killed off in seconds, the mission goes sideways, and two unexpected players join the chaos: Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), reluctantly pulled into the fight and quickly forced into the role of team conscience; and Alexei Shostakov, the Red Guardian (David Harbour), first seen working as a disgruntled limo driver, who throws himself into the mission out of boredom and longing for faded glory.
The set-pieces are the film’s backbone, and thankfully they deliver. The bunker fight is the standout of the first half — close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat staged with grit and precision, recalling the raw immediacy of The Winter Soldier (2014). Then there’s the third-act Thunderbolts vs. Sentry showdown, which is pure comic-book spectacle: bodies and powers colliding, Red Guardian swinging wild, Ghost phasing through walls, and Yelena landing brutal hits that feel earned. It gives Bucky some of his best action in years and finally makes the squad feel like a real team. The effects are mostly solid, with just enough weight and crunch to keep the mayhem from floating away. For a stretch, it’s ass-kicking goodness, and you forget about the film’s messier elements.
When your evil plan pairs perfectly with prosecco.
The direction and screenplay are both solid, if not spectacular. Jake Schreier, of Paper Towns (2015) fame, keeps the action coherent and the pacing brisk, giving the film just enough grit without losing the comic-book splash. The script, by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, with contributions from Lee Sung Jin, balances banter and bruises reasonably well — it’s not reinventing the Marvel formula, but it gives every character their moment and peppers in enough personality to keep things lively. Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely competent, and it holds the whole package together.
The cast is what sells it. David Harbour runs away with the movie as Red Guardian, every scene popping with his chaotic dad-bod bravado and full-bodied commitment. Florence Pugh, as always, makes Yelena sharp and soulful in equal measure. Wyatt Russell leans into John Walker’s insecure patriotism, Hannah John-Kamen finally gets more screentime as Ghost, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a delight. Sebastian Stan slips comfortably back into Bucky mode, playing the weary soldier who tries to keep this circus on track, his dynamic with Pugh and Harbour surprisingly rich. And then there’s Lewis Pullman’s Sentry: a mix of tortured psyche and terrifying power, he’s both sympathetic and dangerous, giving the team a worthy nemesis.
If looks could kill, this team wouldn’t even need weapons.
Thematically, Thunderbolts* swings for the fences. Redemption, state control, and the blurry line between heroism and monstrosity are its core ideas, and they’re handled with about as much subtlety as a hammer to the face. But that lack of subtlety works for this ragtag crew. They’re all compromised figures and screw-ups, and to the film’s credit, the arcs work best when these characters wrestle openly with their baggage. There’s also a surprisingly heavy thread about mental health and trauma — most clearly through Sentry’s fractured psyche and the Void, but mirrored in the scars every member carries. These aren’t clean-cut Avengers; they’re walking wounds, forced to stare down their own damage. And the film finds a kind of bruised hope in how they lean on each other. For once, healing doesn’t come from a noble sacrifice or a big speech — it comes from connection, however messy. Where the film fumbles is the finale. Once we dive into Sentry’s head and the Void, things get chaotic. It’s visually wild, sure, but narratively nonsensical. Characters drift in and out of dream logic, allegories collapse into CGI noise, and the climax feels more like a fever dream than a conclusion.
In the end, though, this is a good time. Thunderbolts* may not be essential viewing, but it’s a scrappy, punchy Marvel ride with a killer cast. The chemistry is undeniable, Harbour’s Red Guardian steals it all, and the action delivers where it counts. Sure, Taskmaster fans might rage (if there are any), and the Void finale veers into silliness, but judged as a rough-edged side mission in the MCU? It works.
3.5 / 5 – Great
Reviewed by Stu Cachia (S-Littner)
Thunderbolts* is released through Disney Australia
