Through great choices in casting and directing as well as creating a compelling, interesting plot; Marvel Studios released “Thunderbolts*” on May 2 and finally made a movie on par with the Infinity Saga.
We are currently in the fifth phase of the Marvel franchise, and over the past few years Marvel has released 23 products in phases four and five.
Out of all of these projects, “Thunderbolts*” stands alone as the only one to live up to the Infinity Saga in phases one through three. There have been some other good movies in the last few years, but none of them quite as successful nor as well-received as “Thunderbolts*”.
The movie follows a group of criminals who, after being sent to kill each other by their boss Valentino, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, to get rid of evidence, join together to take her down.
What “Thunderbolts*” does well, that fans have been begging Marvel to do, is that it is a simple, easy to follow story which does not rely on other projects to make sense. It’s a stand-alone film that anyone, whether they have watched Marvel or not, could walk into the theater and understand.
Along with the simplicity, Marvel also packs on a multitude of experienced and successful actors who create characters that I as a fan actually care about.
These actors are also actually funny. I cannot remember the last time that I laughed at a Marvel movie because recently, every movie feels bland and serious and every attempt at humor falls short.
However, characters like Yelena Belova and the Red Guardian played by Florence Pugh and David Harbour give the movie a funny and compelling quality.
Speaking of Pugh, she is absolutely fantastic as Yelena Belova and makes a real case to surpass Scarlett Johansson as the best Black Widow. Her ability to create a character that is a mix between sadness, sarcasm and anger makes Yelena seem like a real person. Along with her ability to have humor while facing her inner conflict shows that she should be considered as the new face of the Marvel franchise.
And it’s not just the big name actors that make this movie what it is, characters like John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell, offer the audience other characters to root for.
His funny but overwhelmingly sad character makes him likeable despite the fact that the character is overall a bad person.
What Thunderbolts does so well is that it builds off of these already created characters and makes the audience see them in a new way. The movie shows that despite the characters living these awful lives they can still move forward.
Thunderbolts perfectly sets up the MCU for its coming movies and gives fans something to look forward to for the first time in what seems like forever.