The Mycenaean

The latest addition to the Marvel Universe, Thunderbolts*, premiered on April 22, 2025, and fans are not disappointed.

As a long-time Marvel fan, I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down in the theater. Was it going to be another unimpressive filler film like some of the recent shows and movies? Or was it going to have me on the edge of my seat wanting more?

Thunderbolts* follows a dysfunctional team of misfit antiheroes led by Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes–played by Florence Pugh and Sabastan Stan. Each antihero has been working as an operative for the director of the CIA, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine–played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus–on covert government missions.

When De Fontaine is threatened with impeachment due to her involvement in inhuman experiments, she tries to destroy all the evidence of her illegal activities, including the operatives she has been using to cover up her involvement. The misfits must band together to save themselves and save the sole survivor of the human experiments: Bob.

Bob is a charming, yet troubled young adult whose very human struggles make him a strongly likable character who the audience can relate to.

The Thunderbolts must fight to save Bob from De Fontaine, who is manipulating him into becoming her own weapon of mass destruction–Sentry, an indestructible superhuman.

In the end, the team–who now call themselves the Thunderbolts– must dive into the inner workings of Bob’s mind to save him from his darker self, The Void. The Void is a figment of all of Bob’s darker and self-deprecating thoughts.

In the end, it is teamwork, and the characters accepting themselves for who they are that stops the void.

I think the writers did a great job using The Void to illustrate what depression can feel like and portraying it in a manner that allows people to understand mental illness.

This movie explores overcoming depression, loneliness, and trauma. While learning to accept yourself for who you are and becoming who you want to be.

A lot of time, superhero movies portray heroes as all-powerful beings who are fighting to save the world, but Thunderbolts* has a different take on heroes. The film portrays these characters as broken people who are fighting battles within themself, which humanizes them.

For example, one of my favorite character arcs was Yalana Balovas. She is an ex-child assassin who has been living out her adult years trying to accept and cope with her past. She struggles with thoughts of suicide and depression, but through the movie, she learns to confide in others and let go of things she regrets.

Another one of my favorite aspects of this movie was that even though the subject matter is dark, there were still humorous moments and witty remarks. It lightened the mood of the whole film, but did not take away from the seriousness of the contents, which made it very enjoyable to watch.

Overall, I think this movie does a great job of making the audience feel for the protagonists and writing the characters in a way that allows the audience to relate to their struggles. It also displays the action and storytelling that people are expecting when they watch a Marvel movie. This movie is one I would highly recommend, and I can’t wait to see how it will fit into the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.