Performance Review: Thunderbolts*

Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just completed its third weekend in theaters. Following Captain America: Brave New World, which received a harsh critical response (48% RT score) and a solid if unspectacular box office ($415M worldwide), Thunderbolts* debuted to dazzling reviews from critics (88% RT) and audiences (94% RT) alike and is tracking to perform similarly to its predecessor at the box office, despite those gaudy scores.  Disney CEO Bob Iger said recently on a financial call with investors that he feels “very good” about the quality of the movie, and believes it is the “first and best example” of the shift towards quality over quantity at the studio. So even though the box office may be lagging behind the eye-popping pre-pandemic numbers the studio is used to, the commitment to quality offers a chance for the studio to build on the momentum of Thunderbolts* and Daredevil: Born Again over the next few years.

Thunderbolts* was originally announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022. A lot of things at Marvel Studios have changed in the three years since, but the core group of characters making up this team did not- Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko), led by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). That core group was announced that year in Hall H, and never changed.

The movie was originally intended to be filmed in July 2023 but was delayed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Instead, the movie began shooting in February 2024, led by director Jake Schreier (Beef) from a script written by Eric Pearson (Black Widow) and Joanna Calo (The Bear).

Last Friday night, I saw the movie for a third time in preparation for this performance review. As with Captain America: Brave New World (and based on some positive feedback- thank you!), I will break down Thunderbolts* using the prism of the Infinity Stones to structure my thoughts.

Mild spoilers may follow.

MIND STONE: Pearson is an MCU veteran. He came up through the Marvel Writer’s Program and has been with the studio for 15 years (for more on that- I recommend this Yahoo article from 2017). He is also responsible for the scripts of Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow, and July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. His script here (with rewrites from Calo) might be his strongest to date. Thunderbolts* tells a coherent story with clear themes that differentiates itself from many Marvel scripts that have come before. It manages to be genuinely funny while tackling a serious issue like mental health. Leading up to the release, many expected this movie to be “Marvel’s Suicide Squad” but it is so much more than that. A great script rewards multiple viewings and Thunderbolts* only improves with each subsequent viewing.

REALITY STONE: Marvel struck gold when they cast Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in 2021’s Black Widow. Pugh is now a bonafide movie star and her performance here is electric. Yelena Belova, with her stereotypical Russian accent, could verge on cartoonish in the wrong hands, but Pugh infuses the character with so much pathos and genuine emotion that you never question her authenticity. I started to tear up during my third viewing, during a particularly poignant moment between her and her adoptive father figure. There are other outstanding performances here, too- David Harbour as the Red Guardian provides many of the movie’s funniest moments and Lewis Pullman (a late replacement for Steven Yeun as Bob Reynolds) is a revelation. Hannah John-Kamen and Wyatt Russell do not have as much to do but build upon their previous MCU appearances, making me eager to see them again. But without Pugh’s performance to anchor everything, it would not work as well as it does.

Thunderbolts* represents a return to the basics for Marvel Studios, with as much of the movie being filmed in practical locations and with practical effects as possible. Gone are the days of shooting everything on “The Volume” with digital backgrounds; the difference is noticeable. There is no CGI wonkiness here that has sometimes plagued other Multiverse Saga projects. The result feels like a throwback to the movies of Phase 1 and 2 of the MCU.

POWER STONE: The strongest impact of shooting practically is felt in the action scenes, several of which were among my favorite scenes in the film. The desert sequence near the movie’s midway point might be the best scene in the entire film, and one of the strongest in all of Phase 5. It has such a visceral feeling because the production went to Utah to film on-location, and the stunts are done almost entirely practically. It is something a wall of blue and green screens could never duplicate.

An early action scene featuring Yelena evokes memories of Scarlett Johansson’s first MCU fight sequence in Iron Man 2. The action sequence inside the vault featured in many of the trailers lives up to the moment and serves as a great reintroduction to many of these characters who viewers have not seen for years.

TIME STONE: Thunderbolts* clocks in at 126 minutes, including credits and two post-credits scenes. That is just under the average runtime for an MCU movie (131 minutes) and matches the runtimes for Iron Man 2 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The movie is well-paced. The characters spend a considerable amount of time in just two or three locations throughout the movie, but editors Harry Yoon and Angela M. Catanzaro cut between locations in such a way (particularly during the first half when scenes are split between the desert and Washington DC), that you never feel like things are dragging or too much time is being spent in one place.

SPACE STONE: Schreier’s big blockbuster directing debut is an unqualified success. In several interviews, he emphasized that the mandate from Kevin Feige and Marvel was to make something that felt “different” than a typical MCU movie. What he manages with Thunderbolts* is something more than that— a movie that is undeniably unique, but also just familiar enough to longtime fans that everyone who watches it should leave happy.

Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo (who previously worked on Moon Knight for Marvel) is excellent here. Choosing to shoot Florence Pugh’s jump from the second-tallest building in the world from afar shows how distant Yelena has become from those around her. Her opening fight sequence was shot from an overhead angle, casting shadows that are echoed later in the movie. The camera’s view from below as the titular team attempts to escape a precarious situation evokes the look of the title’s asterisk. These are just a few of the many standout shots in the movie.

SOUL STONE: “There is something wrong with me.” These are the first words of dialogue in Thunderbolts* and they resonate throughout the movie as every character deals with an internal struggle about their self-worth. Thematically, this is one of the strongest entries in the MCU post-Endgame. It is a relatable struggle that everyone has dealt with at some point. Schreier, Pearson, and Calo are careful never to become too heavy-handed in their messaging. Staging the third act not as the traditional over-the-top battle that the MCU is known for, but as an internal struggle against your inner demons is an inspired choice.

FINAL VERDICT: Thunderbolts* is not a perfect film. Despite all the things I have praised above, some characters could have been afforded more screen time, some dialogue is a little clunky, and there are other nits to pick if you scrutinize the script too closely. However, those complaints are so minor that they hardly warrant discussion here. Thunderbolts* is a triumph, one of the finest movies of the Multiverse Saga, and the latest addition to my personal MCU Top 10. If you are someone who has been wavering on the MCU at large, this movie is worth your time and may be exactly what is needed to pull you back in.

9/10

-Greg