Thunderbolts*
2025
***½
Director: Jake Schreier
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine's attempt to eliminate her operatives unites a ragtag group of superhuman antiheroes, including Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Red Guardian, Ghost, and the mysterious Bob. The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe release is entertaining, and not as formulaic and predictable as much of the recent output. It brings together a gang of flawed misfits, most of whom are familiar from earlier MCU shows or movies, and is less focused on spectacle than on its emotional core. The climactic battle unfolds not on the street, but inside the villain's mind.
