So, I watched Thunderbolts on May 1, 2025, and I’ve got to say—I was not expecting to feel this much. The MCU has been kind of a mess lately, right? I mean, Captain America: Brave New World was a snooze, and The Marvels just didn’t hit for me. But Thunderbolts, the last movie of Phase Five, had me hooked from the start. It’s messy, sure, but it’s got so much heart that I couldn’t help but love it. Let’s break it down.
What’s the Story?
Okay, so Thunderbolts is about this group of messed-up antiheroes who get thrown together by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine—she’s played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who’s basically having the time of her life being shady. The team’s a wild mix: there’s Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who’s still heartbroken over her sister Natasha; Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the Winter Soldier who’s trying to be a better guy; Red Guardian (David Harbour), this loud, lovable Soviet super-soldier; Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who can phase through stuff; John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the ex-Captain America who’s kind of a jerk but not really; Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), who can copy anyone’s moves; and this new guy, Bob, aka The Sentry (Lewis Pullman), who’s got a dark side called The Void that’s honestly pretty freaky.
Valentina sends them on a mission, but—surprise!—it’s a total setup. She wants them gone to cover her tracks, and they end up fighting for their lives. They figure out her plan and take the fight to her at this crazy fortified tower. Along the way, they’re all dealing with their own baggage, and somehow, they end up becoming this weird little family. The movie ends with them having a group hug, which I know sounds super cheesy, but trust me, it works. Oh, and there’s a post-credits scene that teases more trouble with The Sentry, because of course there is.
What I Thought
Let me just start by saying: this movie gets real about mental health in a way I didn’t see coming. Yelena’s story hit me hard. The movie kicks off with her standing on the edge of the Merdeka 118 skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, and when she jumps, my heart sank. She’s so lost after losing Natasha, and you can feel how much she’s hurting. Then there’s Bob, who’s basically fighting his own mind with this whole Sentry/Void thing—it’s like a metaphor for mental health struggles, and it’s heavy but so well done.
The vibe of this movie is totally different from what the MCU’s been doing lately, and I’m here for it. It’s got this gritty, indie feel—like, it’s less about saving the universe and more about saving each other. The director, Jake Schreier, and the cinematographer, Andrew Droz Palermo, go for this darker, moodier look with lots of blues and shadows, and it fits the story perfectly. The action scenes are awesome, too. There’s this one hallway fight where Yelena and Taskmaster are just tearing through enemies, and it’s shot from above—it’s so intense, you can feel how desperate they are. Plus, at 2 hours, it doesn’t drag, which is more than I can say for some MCU movies that feel like they go on forever.
But it’s not all perfect. The beginning feels a bit rushed, you know? Like, we don’t really get why Valentina’s doing all this—she’s just evil because the plot needs her to be. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is having a blast, but I wanted more from her character. Also, the tone can be a little allphysics, which is fine, but it can feel jarring. One second, Yelena’s dealing with some seriously heavy stuff, and the next, Red Guardian’s cracking jokes. Don’t get me wrong—David Harbour is hilarious as Red Guardian, and his scenes with Yelena are some of my favorites—but it can throw you off.
I also wish some of the characters got more love. Ghost and Taskmaster are so cool, but they barely get any screen time. I wanted to know more about them, especially Taskmaster, because she’s been kind of a mystery since Black Widow. And if you haven’t seen stuff like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or Black Widow, you might be a little lost with some of the references—they don’t explain much about the Red Room or John Walker’s past. Oh, and classic MCU move: it’s mostly a standalone story, but they can’t resist setting up the next thing with that post-credits scene. It’s cool, but I was like, “Can we just enjoy this for a second?”
Still, what makes this movie so special is how real it feels. These characters are all so broken, but they find a way to lean on each other. That group hug at the end—I know, I know, it sounds sappy, but after everything they’ve been through, it felt so right. It’s not a big, crazy CGI explosion that saves the day; it’s this quiet, human moment. That’s what I loved most about Thunderbolts—it’s not trying to be the biggest MCU movie ever. It’s just trying to make you care about these people, and for me, it totally worked.
The Cast Totally Nails It
The performances are what make this movie. Florence Pugh as Yelena? She’s unreal. She’s tough and funny, but you can see how much pain she’s in, especially when she talks about Natasha—I got chills. Lewis Pullman is amazing as Bob/The Sentry. He’s so sweet and innocent, but then The Void comes out, and he’s legitimately terrifying. David Harbour’s Red Guardian is the best kind of comic relief—he had the whole theater laughing—but he’s got these sweet moments with Yelena that really got to me. Sebastian Stan is solid as Bucky, but I wish he had more to do—he’s kind of just there to be the calm one. Wyatt Russell makes you actually like John Walker, which is wild because I couldn’t stand him before. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is so much fun as Valentina, even if her character’s a little flat. And Hannah John-Kamen and Olga Kurylenko as Ghost and Taskmaster—they’re great, but they don’t get enough to work with, which is a bummer.
Final Thoughts
People are loving Thunderbolts, and I totally get why. It’s got an 88% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’ve seen folks on X calling it “raw, hilarious, and deeply human.” It’s doing big numbers at the box office, too—looking at $70–75 million in the U.S. and $160–175 million worldwide for its opening weekend, which is huge for Marvel right now. For me, this movie is proof that the MCU can still be great when it focuses on characters instead of just explosions. It’s not perfect—the pacing, the tone, and some of the characters needed more—but it’s got so much heart that I didn’t care. If Marvel keeps going in this direction, I’m all in.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Thunderbolts is a messy, emotional ride that brought me back to what I love about the MCU. It’s not perfect, but it’s exactly what the franchise needed.
