I thought Thunderbolts* was going to be what everyone else said it looked like: a well-thought-out idea, culminating in a mediocre execution. As another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie leading the franchise towards Avengers: Doomsday, the trailer looked average enough. I was skeptical of the film’s good reviews, keeping in mind that it could be another MCU flop, especially with the hit-and-miss nature of Marvel’s Phase 5. Specifically, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and Deadpool and Wolverine have been  the only films from the phase popular among fans.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was meant to be the proper introduction to the exciting Kang the Conqueror saga, but was immediately dropped with the controversy of Jonathan Majors, the actor who played Kang. The Marvels was the biggest box office failure in the MCU’s 17-year history and Captain America: Brave New World was not the smash hit Disney was hoping for. It was clear that the MCU wasn’t doing so hot….

Thunderbolts* is the final movie of the MCU’s  Phase 5. It features the return of characters like Yelena and Red Guardian from the Black Widow movie, Ghost from Ant-Man and The Wasp, and The Winter Soldier from a wide variety of previous films. The film also features the return of John Walker from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series on Disney.He’s a rogue U.S agent and a failed successor to Captain America. This film pits these anti-heroes against the MCU’s interpretation of Superman, Sentry, as he is being taken over by a dark entity called The Void.

I saw the movie a week before its premiere – right before,, I saw an instagram reel with Winter soldier actor, Sebastian Stan, at a bus stop replacing a Thunderbolts* poster with an identical poster with a changed title. Many people, including I, were taken aback by the new title: The New Avengers.

For those confused, the film is still officially titled Thunderbolts*, and Disney has clarified that the change was just to reveal the significance of the asterisk hinted at months prior. I see this as just a marketing scheme to get more fans into the theaters, and that’s totally fine. I just wish the title didn’t spoil the literal ending of the movie. The whole point is that these characters are a team of outcasts and assassins and that they are nothing like the Avengers at all. The rest of the marketing and the trailers capture that feel really well, so it just feels like the change ruined the impact of the ending. Lots of critic scores are suggesting that this movie was on the same level of quality as films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Avengers: Infinity War. I would definitely not say that it’s a top-five Marvel movie, probably not even top 10, but I do think this movie is a solid entry, especially considering the amount of misses we’ve been getting from the Thor and Captain America installments.

“Thunderbolts*” is a movie that feels like such a breath of fresh air, and it brings a lot of needed life back into the MCU. I found the action set pieces to be well done. There was a lot of emphasis on a lot of the action sequences being filmed practically. The real feeling helped make the fight scenes appear more grounded and stylistic, especially in the film’s opening scene. A common criticism of Marvel movies is their over-reliance on CGI. While the effects do have their place, a lot of fans, including myself, have gotten tired of action set pieces being mostly computer-generated. A lot of digital work has been done on this movie as well, but director Jake Schreier made sure to apply effects only when necessary.

I was pretty impressed with the fight scene against Sentry and how creative the camera shots were, and I love how the dream sequences looked. I do think that this is one of the greatest-looking MCU films in the past couple of years. Even some of the cinematic universe’s best movies in the past couple of years had some CGI moments that didn’t look quite right, and sometimes even unfinished looking, but Thunderbolts…

A thing this movie had to get right for any future Avengers movies was to make sure all of the “New Avengers” were as interesting as characters as the “Big Six” who first assembled against Loki in the original Avengers film.

Florence Pugh gives such a witty and captivating performance as Yelena, who seems to be given the torch of leading the New Avengers. I loved how they dove into her backstory and trauma from being a trained killer who was forced to commit murders even as a child. (go more into this) 

The movie is more focused on being a character piece than just another setup to more movies and Disney+ shows, which is exactly why recent MCU movies have been losing public interest. Even comic relief characters like Red Guardian got a genuine character arc, and I was surprised by how it felt like all the characters got just the right amount of screen time. The only exception is Ghost. I feel like she has little influence on the story, and some good themes could have been explored with her. I can forgive the writers for not diving into The Winter Soldier’s character since he got all the development he needed in his show and the other Captain America entries. I will add that fans of Taskmaster (from Black Widow) will probably be disappointed in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

I think the standout of the movie is Sentry, hands down, who is the primary antagonist of the movie. He starts the movie out as a supposed comic relief character before being influenced by his darker side, and eventually becomes the primary third-act threat. What I was impressed by was how great of an allegory he is for depression and mental illness, which is something that Marvel never really tackles. Sentry is someone who has childhood trauma and a very dark past. The movie uses this as a way to convey themes of addiction and rehabilitation, and Sentry is a great example of conveying those themes.

I found this movie to be such a great, fresh entry in the MCU multiverse saga. It has put a nice spark of life into pre-established characters, and it left me with a lot of hope for the future of the MCU. With Fantastic Four: First Steps coming out this summer as the start to Phase Six, fans, including myself, are hyped for how Marvel attempts to tie First Steps into the main universe, which will lead up to the release of Avengers: Doomsday. The MCU’s future seems bright with the release of this movie. Hopefully, this trend will continue.