“This is the best MCU movie since Guardians Vol. 3. It’s messy, emotional, overpowered chaos—and it works.”
🪸 The Premise
Marvel’s Thunderbolts throws together a group of antiheroes, screwups, and war criminals and sends them into a black-ops mission that spirals into a clash with a god-tier wildcard: Sentry, Marvel’s take on Superman if he was suffering from mental breakdowns, trauma-induced psychosis, and the ability to end reality.
This isn’t The Avengers. It’s the government’s last-ditch cleanup crew—and they’re being manipulated at every turn. If you thought Marvel was getting soft, Thunderbolts reminds you there’s still room for dirtbags and broken heroes in this universe.
👥 The Squad
- Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) – Finally out from Natasha Romanoff’s shadow, Yelena becomes the soul of this story. She leads with heart, pain, and bite.
- Red Guardian (David Harbour) – Loud, proud, and hilarious. But this time, he brings emotional weight too.
- Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) – Serving more as a moral anchor and a reluctant leader figure.
- US Agent / John Walker (Wyatt Russell) – Still an ego case. Still entertaining.
- Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) – Mostly sidelined but given enough screen time to stay interesting.
- Taskmaster – Brief. Brutal. Done dirty (again).
- Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) – The mastermind, kind of. But still the weakest link performance-wise.
- Bob Reynolds / Sentry (Lewis Pullman) – The nuclear core of this movie. He starts as a nobody… then becomes everyone’s nightmare.
🎭 How It Feels
This is The Suicide Squad meets Winter Soldier with a splash of Guardians heart. There’s brutal action, heavy emotion, absurd powers, and a surprising amount of teamwork that feels earned, not forced.
Tonally, it walks a tricky line: dark without being edgy, comedic without being quippy. And unlike recent MCU entries (The Marvels, Quantumania), this actually feels like it matters.
🧠 Pre-Spoiler Thoughts
Let’s talk Sentry. Marvel took a big swing here. Bob Reynolds is overpowered to a hilarious degree: he has super strength, flight, psychic powers, teleportation, umbrakinesis (look it up), resurrection, and probably makes a mean lasagna.
“Sentry is Superman on crack. And yet, Lewis Pullman makes you feel for the guy. That’s a win.”
Does it feel like a rip-off of Superman? Absolutely. But Thunderbolts manages to turn that into an asset by making Bob a character first—not just a power set.
Florence Pugh and David Harbour own the movie. Their father-daughter dynamic has evolved, and every emotional beat between them hits. This team shouldn’t work on paper, but their dysfunction becomes their strength.
The visuals are mostly solid, though the finale gets a bit too CGI-heavy. And while the script stumbles early with some stock dialogue, it recovers with strong third-act payoffs—especially in two standout scenes involving Bob and Yelena.
This isn’t groundbreaking superhero cinema. But it is damn satisfying Marvel storytelling. It’s sharp, bold, and shockingly emotional for a movie about glorified government hitmen.
🎟️ Should You Watch It?
If you’re a Marvel fan: Hell yes.
If you’re superhero fatigued: This one might surprise you.
If you’re a hater: You’ll still hate it—but you might respect the effort.
“It’s not perfect. But it brings Marvel’s edge back. And it actually feels like a movie—not a trailer for the next five.”
Spoilers Start Here – You’ve Been Warned!
🔥 SPOILERS BELOW – FULL BREAKDOWN AND REVEALS 🔥
Major Deaths, Twists, and the Void
- Taskmaster gets clapped early. Shot in the head. Unceremoniously. Honestly? Good riddance. This version was dead weight.
- Sentry wakes up mid-movie. At first, Bob is just an awkward guy. But when bullets bounce off him and he throws Red Guardian across the sky, it’s clear: this guy isn’t normal.
- The Void is real. Sentry’s dark alter ego manifests and begins wiping people from existence—literally erasing them into a shadow realm of their worst traumas. It’s dark, creepy, and visually haunting.
- Redemption arc? Kind of. Bob isn’t evil. He’s broken. The team—especially Yelena—connects with him emotionally, and that becomes the key to stopping the Void.
The Ending
The team talks Bob down in the mindscape of his trauma. They don’t kill him—they reach him. Classic MCU power-of-friendship moment, but executed well enough to not feel corny. The Void vanishes, Bob collapses… but not for long.
Valentina tries to declare them the “New Avengers,” manipulating the media and Bob’s hero moment. Most of the team is skeptical, Bucky’s furious, but public perception wins. It ends with Bob doing dishes, vowing not to use his powers again… but we all know he will.
Mid & Post-Credit Scenes
- Mid-Credit: The Fantastic Four arrive via interdimensional portal. Galactus looming? Probably.
- Post-Credit: Red Guardian rebrands the squad as “The Avengers”—with a “Z.” Goofy, but kind of on brand.
📋The Good & The Bad
THE GOOD:
- Florence Pugh and David Harbour have incredible chemistry.
- Lewis Pullman’s Bob/Sentry is compelling, terrifying, and weirdly sympathetic.
- Emotional arcs land, especially for Yelena and Bob.
- Humor and action balance better than most recent Marvel entries.
- Strong visual identity and stakes that feel earned.
THE BAD:
- Valentina’s arc is flimsy.
- Overuse of CGI in the finale.
- Taskmaster was wasted—again.
- Sentry’s existence could wreck MCU tension going forward.
Thunderbolts: Thunderbolts delivers one of the strongest MCU entries in years. Packed with emotion, humor, brutal action, and a truly terrifying Sentry, it manages to make a misfit team of assassins and screwups feel like Marvel’s most human heroes. Florence Pugh and David Harbour shine, and the film balances heart and spectacle in a way we haven’t seen from the franchise in a while. The ending sets up major MCU shifts—with the Void, Fantastic Four, and a new Avengers team on deck. – Asmodeus
🚀 What’s Next?
Thunderbolts ends with a new “Avengers” team, the Void lurking in the shadows, and the Fantastic Four crashing in from another dimension. Marvel’s next big swing is coming fast.
And yes… Dr. Doom is coming. Get hyped.