“Thunderbolts*” brings the fun back to the MCU

The MCU has had a rough go of it lately. The movies Marvel has released in the past five years have been mostly critically panned and struggled at the box office. I didn't see "Captain America: Brave New World" because I wanted to; I went because I felt like I had to. With more misses than hits, the MCU was losing its way. With "Thunderbolts*" they seem to find their way back slowly.

A group of Marvel antiheroes must find a way to work together to stop a powerful villain and deal with their past mistakes and failures.

At its core, "Thunderbolts*" is about a group of broken people. Yelena (Florence Pugh) is the heart of this movie. She is a black ops agent who no longer finds her job satisfying. She has done terrible things, which are starting to weigh on her. This is the third time Pugh has played this character (in 2021's "Black Widow" and for a few episodes of the Disney+ "Hawkeye" series), and she continues to bring layers to this character.

What the MCU has been missing as of late is the balance of a serious, compelling story with having fun. Some have been too serious (I'm looking at you "Captain America: Brave New World") or relied on being too silly/weird (:: cough cough:: "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania"). "Thunderbolts*" beings balance back. The characters deal with heavy things, but that doesn't stop the jokes and lighthearted moments from happening. I take this as a good sign for the MCU going forward.

I do need to address the asterisk in the room. Officially, the movie is titled "Thunderbolts*." That asterisk is part of the title and not a typo on my part. The team in this movie is not officially called anything; the name Thunderbolts is thrown out as a joke, and one character runs with it. The asterisk serves another function too. Once we saw that unusual punctuation mark, it was clear that this team would have a new name when the movie ended, and that is precisely what happened. If you have paid attention to the news in the past week, you will have seen the new name, but I will not spoil it here.

After years of being mostly disappointed by the MCU for the past few years (there have been a few highlights), all I wanted was for "Thunderbolts*" to be fun. It cleared that bar and more. This movie was a blast and had such a great emotional core with a story worth telling. I hope this is a sign of change for the MCU.

8/10

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive drug references.

2h. 6m.