On May 2nd, 2025, Marvel Studios released the movie “Thunderbolts*”, directed by Jake Schreier to theaters. The movie is a grounded and relatable film about a ragtag group of antiheroes having to set aside their differences and work together. The group, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), work together to fight government corruption from Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who is the director of the CIA, and end up helping Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) who was a victim of super-human experimentation from Valentina. Along the way, they learn to be there and help each other despite their differences and overcome their struggles, both physically and mentally, together.

Unlike other superhero team-up movies that Marvel has produced, like the Avengers films, Thunderbolts* felt very grounded. The film’s humor and gritty moments pulled on the audience’s heartstrings to empathize with the characters. It was engaging and it invested in the heroes, while also keeping the film entertaining and humorous with how the characters argue and banter with each other. The movie took characters people previously didn’t care for, due to their minimal appearances or roles in earlier movies, and gave them interesting dynamics by throwing them all into a movie together and forcing them to work as a team.

Thunderbolts* is different with its villain, when compared to other superhero films produced by Marvel. Instead of a world or universe ending entity as the villain, the main villain of the movie is mental health. It is refreshing to have a different kind of threat than the usual unstoppable force, especially with Bob Reynolds struggling with mental health and addiction that ends up manifesting as the villain of the film, as a physical embodiment of his mental health problems. It is such a new take that makes the villain feel both menacing and very real, as many have struggled with mental health one way or another. Bob ends up beating up the void version of himself, the dark side of himself that he is ashamed of and in the end all our heroes hug him and hold him back from beating himself up, both literally and metaphorically. That scene is so intensely emotional that it makes the audience realize that there are people there for them and that they’re not alone in the fight against mental health. This movie does a great job with this message and how it’s portrayed, the happy ending with a powerful message really makes “Thunderbolts*” deserving of the praise it has received. 

I would rate this film a 4 out of 5 stars. It’s not perfect but it is a very grounded and interesting movie, filled with action and powerful emotional moments, with a good message as the cherry on top. Not only is this movie more for Marvel fans, but for everyone who had a struggle with mental health.

★★★★