Thunderbolts* (Jake Schreier, May 2, 2025) Movie • Page 17

Just saw this and I have thoughts.

This was great. Honestly one of the best Marvel films in a while, and like the best ones, had something bigger to say beyond just superheroes doing superhero things, which is something I think had been missing from say, Captain America for example.

Loved that it got resolved not through punching things, but by love and acceptance, which I think is something Captain America tried to do to some level but just didn't land the message very well, where this one nailed it.

If I had to throw criticisms at it, one is throwing away Taskmaster. I disliked that Black Widow never gave the character any agency, and now instead of giving it to her here and finally seeing her as a character, they just killed her off. The explanation doesn't sit well with me because a film being "bloodless" doesn't make it a bad film and I feel like killing her didn't do anything to enhance the narrative, especially since they glossed over it. They might as well have not had her in the cast to begin with. Just a waste.

I also think more should've been done with Ghost. I remember rumors when this film started that Laurence Fishburne and Rachel Weisz were going to return, and they didn't, and I wonder if that's because maybe we were originally going to have more scenes in the Void world. It would've made sense. Maybe they felt it was too much to do that for everyone and that the scenes with Yelena, Walker, and Valentina drove the point home? Think it was a missed opportunity.

Anyway, overall great film. I love that this elevated these disparate characters beyond their previous appearances to be a real team. And David Harbour is my spirit animal. Put Red Guardian in every scene. Kind of hope whatever happens to them leads to a redemption arc for Walker, cause it was rough to see him having lost everything post-FAWS.

Final thought about the post-credits: at first I wondered if this was a spoiler that indicated the FF universe got toasted by Galactus or an incursion, but now I'm wondering, what if it's a fake out and that's actually the arrival of Doom?

 

Added thoughts about the film's message: as someone who takes medication for anxiety and depression, some of what Yelena and Bob were saying really hit close to home for me and made the film much more powerful.

EDIT: I also like the scene with Valentina in the void, giving her a little more meat beyond just "evil government person". I wonder if we'll see any more glimpses like that in future films? Maybe the New Avengers help change her as a person?

Also, give us fucking Songbird, assholes!

 

Also wondering about FF - maybe their final battle with Galactus somehow involves going into space and they screw up their arrival back home, not fully realizing they traveled to a new dimension yet as they approach Earth. Idk. Who knows.

 

Definitely felt refreshing that the villains of this story were a bit more developed than prior Marvel films. This was something that really only the Netflix shows were great at historically imo.

 

One funny moment of the night was when the new Tron trailer played. The guy next to me sounded excited, and then it showed Jared Leto and he just let out a really disappointed "...Oh." lol

 

This is true, although I can think of a few more villains that had some development going for them: obviously Loki and Thanos, but also Zemo and Kilmonger, for example.

But it's true that in many of these films, typically the villain is who takes a backseat. They could've done a lot more with Kro and Gorr, not to mention Taskmaster. Can't fathom why with these films already two hours+ they can't add ten more minutes to give the villains some personality.

Lol. I wish I could be excited for this, but alas, Leto.

We also had this trailer, plus FF and the new Jurassic World, another thing I wish I could be excited by, but it just looks like a redo of III.

 

Also did not know about the new Karate Kid movie. Normally wouldn't have been excited for it, but Ralph Macchio returning has me intrigued

 

Well, it's following on from Cobra Kai.

 

It has the kid from American Born Chinese and his mom is being played by Mulan

 

And he's probably gonna fight the kid from Into the Badlands

 

ABC is a great show and I’d like to support Ben Wang, but I really dislike Jackie Chan as a person.

Paying to see his face for an hour and a half will be a bitter pill to swallow

 

I enjoyed the John Walker character, he’s like the prick Captain America

 

He's actually more likeable here than in the comics.

 

I just like Wyatt Russell

 

i like pretty much all of the cast tbh. would have loved steven yeun to be in this but I hear the president's kid does great so that's nice.

 

Anyone else think all those costumes looked quite bad? Some truly terrible wigs going on there especially on Ghost. Overall this film had a cool grounded look to it and the contrast between that and the post credits look was jarring to me.

 

Idk I thought Red Guardian's Avengerz costume was pretty dope

 

The wigs were terrible

I thought Walker and Barnes looked sharp

 

I’d be ok with him wearing that for all of Doomsday

 

I honestly didn't notice anybody wearing wigs haha

 

I need him wearing that in Doomsday while Sentry flies him into battle lol

 

This. But then I also don't notice most of the "bad CGI" or "too many cuts in a fight scene" that other people do either, and I can't decide if it's just a lack of observation on my part or a lack of caring. Maybe both.

 

F4 and the X-Men see him and think that’s the actual 616 Avengers uniform

 

So do we think Walker's shield is just going to be taco-shsped from now on?