Thunderbolts*

Cast View all

	Florence Pugh	Yelena Belova
	Sebastian Stan	Bucky Barnes
	Julia Louis-Dreyfus	Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
	Lewis Pullman	Robert Reynolds
	David Harbour	Alexei Shostakov
	Wyatt Russell	John Walker
	Hannah John-Kamen	Ava Starr
	Olga Kurylenko	Antonia Dreykov
	Geraldine Viswanathan	Mel
	Wendell Pierce	Congressman Gary
	Chris Bauer	Holt
	Violet McGraw	Young Yelena
	Alexa Swinton	Anya
	Eric Lange	Houston
	Chiara Stella	Young Valentina
	Stefano Carannante	Valentina's Father
	Gianfranco Terrin	Nico
	Georgui Kasaev	Russian Man
	Charlotte Ann Tucker	Saved Little Girl
	Gabrielle Byndloss	Olivia Walker
	Regina Ting Chen	Reporter
	Mallory Hoff	Capitol Reporter
	Jennifer Chung	Grocery Store Mother
	Julia Aku	Stern Russian Teacher
	Clayton Cooper	Young Bob

Crew View all

Director	Jake Schreier
Writer	Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo, Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee
Producer	Brian Chapek, Louis D'Esposito, Bill Donovan, Kevin Feige, David J. Grant, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, Jason Tamez, Allana Williams, Simona Paparelli
Musician	Son Lux
Photography	Andrew Droz Palermo

Trailer

Edition details

Personal

Notes

My quick rating - 7.7/10. Thunderbolts* might just be the breath of fresh air the MCU needed after years of playing it safe with interchangeable cosmic threats and half-baked humor (No, The Marvels, I haven't forgotten about you). It’s not just another team-up movie—it’s a surprisingly heartfelt exploration of loneliness, trauma, and the very human toll that heroism (or anti-heroism, in this case) can take on a person’s psyche.

The plot is straightforward enough: a ragtag bunch of disillusioned misfits and castoffs from past MCU stories are thrown together for a mission that quickly morphs into a death trap. But what stands out is how the film uses this setup to dive deep into each character’s struggles with fear, isolation, and regret. It’s powerful to see mental health given this kind of spotlight in a major superhero tentpole, especially since Marvel comics have always tackled the psychological scars that come with saving (or sometimes endangering) the world.

This is arguably the first time the MCU has truly leaned into that theme. The villain itself is an embodiment of the darkness that lives inside him and all of them. And let's be honest, this is a message for everyone watching. They are showing how unity and vulnerability become the only way to overcome it. I found it to be less of a spoiler and more of a cinematic thesis.

Don’t worry, though. This introspection doesn’t come at the expense of spectacle. There’s still plenty of mass destruction, eardrum-rattling Atmos-ready BOOMs, and well-staged chaos. The fight choreography is crisp, inventive, and the visual effects are reliably up to Marvel’s blockbuster standard. It’s just that, for once, the action feels like a complement to the story rather than the main course.

The cast is truly the film’s secret weapon. Florence Pugh is magnetic as ever, effortlessly balancing Yelena’s sardonic humor and deep vulnerability. Wyatt Russell does stellar work as John Walker, the MCU’s own dented and off-brand Captain America—complex, damaged, yet strangely sympathetic. The rest of the ensemble shines too, though it does feel like Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) gets a little lost in the shuffle, which is almost inevitable with so many heavy hitters vying for screentime. Their group dynamic is a joy to watch. Everyone’s trying to pull away, yet somehow gets drawn back together, and the film mines this tension for both biting humor and genuine emotion.

In the end, Thunderbolts* is more about these broken people trying to hold each other, and themselves, together than it is about saving the world. It’s refreshing to see a Marvel movie put story and character first. Whether this will be the film that finally snaps the MCU out of its creative slump is hard to say, especially since I believe so much seems to hinge on what happens with Fantastic Four: First Steps (which gets an obvious setup in the mid-credits scene). But for now, it’s safe to say the quality is on the upswing, and Thunderbolts* is a big reason why.

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