Thunderbolts

It ain't reviving the MCU from its doldrums all on its own. But this offbeat take on the superhero genre at least points a viable direction for a new iteration, one where castoffs and antiheroes rule.

I’d heard really good things about “Thunderbolts” leading up to its opening — ‘The MCU is back!’ ‘The best Marvel movie since Endgame!’ and stuff like that. People seem really fixed on the notion that the last few years of superhero movies have sucked, and this one’s going to turn things around.

I disagree with that proposition from both ends.

First, superhero movies aren’t consistently hitting the mark like the did in the 2010s — but I’ve still seen some pretty good ones. (Personal pick: the Doctor Strange movie that’s actually a Scarlet Witch movie.) And second, “Thunderbolts” falls into that category. It’s decently good, but it ain’t going to revive the Marvel Cinematic Universe back to its “Avengers” heyday on its own.

It’s an interesting flick, though. Pretty humorous, and deliberately leaning into that space as much as the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies did, before it got serious for its third outing. Strangely enough, it mixes the laughs with some fairly dark and even contemplative themes about what it takes to be a hero, and how our greatest acts of good are often spawned from a place of tragedy and trauma.

You’ve already seen most of the new “team” in other MCU films or streaming shows. They were the background players, the stand-ins and sometimes even the antagonists. Now they’re center stage, not really comfortable there, but finding it’s better to stand in the spotlight than lurk in the shadows.

Florence Pugh is the lead as Yelena Belova, the sister of the late Black Widow and a similarly skilled assassin of Russian origin. Lately she’s been taking black ops jobs for the sinister CIA director, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). Depressed at the death of her sibling and empty from a life of mindless killing, she’s been estranged from adoptive father, Alexei (David Harbour), aka the Red Guardian.

A chintzy Soviet-era knockoff of Captain America, Alexei is desperate to be in the limelight again, and also to rescue his adopted kid from her cloud of gloom. He’s loud and embarrassing but also the kind of guy you can count on. Harbour gets many of the movie’s best laughs, but also manages to evoke some genuinely emotional moments. Dude. Can. Act.

Valentina is feeling the heat from a congressional investigation, with a side player in that being none other than Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), aka the Winter Soldier, now a freshly elected Congressman. Something about his disdain for wading through piles of briefing documents suggests he and his metallic arm are going to get back in the game.

On an op to cover up some of Valentina’s misdeeds, Yelena finds herself squared off with several other superspy types, and after an obligatory fight scene they realize they’ve all been set up to eliminate each other, and decide they’re better off teaming up.

The other players include John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who was the replacement Captain America in between Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, but it didn’t work out because he’s a massive prick, as seen in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” streamer. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) we saw in the last Ant-Man movie, a killer who has the ability to phase in and out of place. Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), from the “Black Widow” feature, can perfectly mimic the fighting skills of others.

They’re stuck in this massive mountain facility called the Vault for what seems like the first third of the movie, eventually making it out. (Well… most of them.) Bucky and Alexei soon join the fun and they jokingly dub themselves the Thunderbolts, after Yelena’s kiddie soccer team.

The X factor is Bob (Lewis Pullman), a seemingly harmless and confused young man who claims he woke up in the Vault with no memory of what’s happened to him, other than he signed up for a medical treatment to address his mental health and addiction issues. There’s obviously something more to him, though, as evidenced by people experiencing hyperreal flashbacks to some of their darkest memories around him.

Things go from there, with the ersatz group of vagabonds determined to take down Valentina and maybe save the world while they’re doing it.

As you might know from their previous appearances or guess from the descriptions above, there are no Norse gods or indestructible green giants in this mix. Their powers fall more into the realm of tricks and gadgets than magic hammers or death lasers.

This gives the action a certain groundedness and a relatable quality. Director Jake Schreier comes from a mostly TV/streaming background and seems like he’s smartly staying within his wheelhouse. The screenplay is by Eric Pearson, an MCU veteran including “Black Widow,” and Joanna Calo, another TV person (“The Bear”).

Stan, fresh off an Oscar nomination and two impressive leading performances last year, is pretty well relegated to second fiddle behind Yelena — actually, more like third or fourth. Bucky’s mainly there to provide some quiet leadership as a guy who knows what it’s like to reside in darkness before getting a chance to emerge into the light.

There’s plenty of self-reflexive humor, including Alexei ruminating on finally being on the Wheaties box or having a Funko bobblehead version of himself. “This is not a marketing opportunity!” Yelena barks.

(And yes, there is, and now I want one.)

But I was impressed with the movie’s willingness to intersperse the yuks with some pretty scratchy material. Yelena was clearly dealing with depression and alcoholism, and all that self-damage makes it hard for her to see herself as one of the good guys. Valentina is malevolent but at least self-aware, reckoning there aren’t really a lot of heroes — only bad guys, and even worse guys.

Martin Scorsese may not dig superhero movies, says they’re theme park rides. (I’d give him more credence if his last two flicks weren’t so bloated and ponderous.)

But I’d put the heyday of the Marvel movies (2007 through 2019) up against any other cinematic enterprise in their ability to dazzle, entertain and, yes, move us. Most people seem stuck on lamenting that it’s over, the MCU is sunk, they’re just managing decline, etc.

My take is to treat the past era as Dr. Seuss would: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

“Thunderbolts” ain’t the Avengers. That’s over. I’ll remember them fondly.

But here’s a new, slightly bent, team of figures answering the call. Their job isn’t to pick up the old mantle, but stitch something together from the leftover pieces and see what’s there. It was enough for me.