Summary
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 is hoping for a shot in the arm whenDeadpool and Wolverinerolls into town in Summer 2024. It’s not surprising that those two legendarily regenerating and damage-wielding Marvel stars laid claim to MCU’s first R-rated movie. But that doesn’t mean a higher certification can’t benefit other characters in the universe: It’s just the thing to helpThunderbolts*pack a real punch when it ends the phase in 2025.
Thunderbolts*is the MCU’s chance to wheel out the villains and antiheroes it’s introduced over the past few years and show what they can do when pesky heroes aren’t around to contain them.If non-family-friendly language and violence are good enough for Marvel’s mutants, it’s got to be the best opportunity for this bunch of antiheroes to set up the epic final chapter of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.
Who are Marvel’s Thunderbolts?
In Marvel comics,Thunderboltsfirst appeared in the mid-1990s as a group of superheroes filling in when the Avengers were presumed dead. In a dramatic and closely guarded twist at the time, they were revealed to be the Masters of Evil led by Baron Zemo. Villains being villains, the team soon overthrew their leader and have been revived in various incarnations, with different members, leaders — from Luke Cage to Hawkeye to Norman Osborn — and levels of U.S. government affiliation ever since.
In the MCU, theThunderbolts*line-up ties up to the roster introduced in Marvel comics in 2023, featuring the Winter Soldier and Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. SinceBlack WidowandThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina has been sneaking around the MCU, pulling together her superteam of dubious characters.
Comprising the Thunderbolts are Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, the cybernetically enhanced former assassin Winter Soldier — one-time enemy and ally of Captain America and Falcon. Last seen taking on Hawkeye, Florence Pugh will feature prominently as Yelena Belova, the Red-Room trained ‘sister’ of Natasha Romanoff. Joining her fromBlack Widowis David Harbour as her father figure (andRussian Captain America analog), Red Guardian, and the movie’s highly skilled assassin, Taskmaster, played by Olga Kurylenko.
After taking on two Avengers inAnt-Man and The Wasp, Hannah John-Kamen is expected to return as the molecularly unstable Ava Starr, AKA Ghost. Introduced inThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell will reprise John Walker’s U.S. Agent, the flawed super-soldier and short-lived Captain America who earned a dishonorable discharge.
An interesting addition to the MCU is Lewis Pullman as Sentry — one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel pantheon. Joining him in the packed cast are returning stars Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. Hot on the heels ofCaptain America: Brave New World, Harrison Ford asThaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross will also be present. In Marvel comic continuity, the Thunderbolts’ name didn’t come from the famous general, but drawing the connection in the MCU makes sense.In the comics, Ross’ alter-ego, Red Hulk, has led a version of the Thunderbolts, adding weight to rumors that the character could appear in at least two films in Phase 5.
At one point, the comic book Thunderbolts was rebranded as the Dark Avengers, a name that could explain that mysterious asterisk inThunderbolts*. At the time, the team’swriter, Brian Michael Bendis, described themas “bad-ass, hardcore get-it-done types. They’ll close the door and take care of business.” What could help them more than a R-rating?
Why Do Marvel’s Thunderbolts Need To Be Unleashed With An R-Rating?
The line-up ofThunderbolts*may have met a mixed reaction, but it’s a chance for Marvel to pull together a group of bad guys they’ve spent years developing. Characters like U.S. Agent may be less familiar, having solely appeared inThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier. But others like Florence Pugh’s White Widow Yelena Belova and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes already have established histories. They just haven’t been able to let loose with their non-nonsense approach to the job.
Effectively assembling the CIA’s version of SHIELD’s Avengers, Valentina’s Thunderbolts* hands the end of the middle chapter of the Multiverse Saga to some of the most flawed MCU characters. One way they can form an effective team and set the saga up for a thrilling conclusion is by going deeper and darker than any hero-led movie before it and stepping away from PG-13.
A Sure Way Not To Mistake Villains For Heroes
The redemption arc often isn’t interesting, and the MCU is unlikely to do it any better than they did with Winter Soldier. Anytime a franchise starts pitting bad guys against bad guys, they run the risk of just being heroes, especially if they’re keeping their actions in check. What marks the members ofThunderbolts*out from Avengers is they’ve all gone up against heroes before.There are proven bad guys who need to show it, no matter how attached they are to the U.S. government.
Villains Deserve To Face A Massive Threat
Truth be told, theThunderbolts*line-up looks a little underpoweredgoing by the characters fans have already met on screen. Ghost appeared inAnt-Man and the Wasp,after all.
An R-rated film means a bigger canvas with devastatingly brutal action never seen in the MCU. Letting loose Belova’s Red Room training or the Red Guardian and U.S. Agent’s super-serum powers (with respective doses of derangement and ego) could be lethal.If they’re going up against a villain or villainous force, theThunderbolts*antagonist needs to be dark and dangerous in a way previous MCU villains haven’t.
Thunderbolts* Can’t Let Deadpool And Wolverine Have All The Fun
TheMCU’s going R-rated in 2024, butDeadpool and Wolverinecan afford to give up that distinction. Those timeline and reality-crossing antics may be fun, and the R-rating is well-suited to characters who can bounce back from losing any or all of their body parts, but that doesn’t mean they need to keep the brutality to themselves. Winter Soldier is one character it would be incredible to see unleashed. If Red Hulk doesappear after being introduced inBrave New World, it’s an unmissable opportunity to finally unleash a Hulk that doesn’t hold back.Fans can expect Deadpool and Wolverine to scrap, but that should have nothing on the internal tensions inThunderbolts*.
DC Has Already Nailed R-Rated Comic Book Movies
DC’s cinematic output might not live up to Marvel’s, but they have beaten the House of Ideas to the punch more than once. The DCEU launched the first movie led by a female superhero withWonder Woman. It’s also notched up an R-rated film.The Suicide Squadinadvertently scored once mootedThunderboltsdirector James Gunn when he was temporarily let go from directingGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.Gunn, now masterminding the new-look DCU, madeThe Suicide Squada quirky, distinctive actioner laced with extreme and artistic violence, dark jokes, and some top quality swearing. Whether or not ittakes a similar approach to antiheroes, it’s the benchmarkThunderboltsneeds to aim for.
The Suicide Squadmay not have set the box office alight when it was released in 2021, but DC had already proven that an R-rated film could cross the $1 billion boundary with 2019’sJoker.Joker: Folie à Deuxwill try to repeat the trick in an even more genre-splicing style in late 2024.Marvel can’t let the rivalry slip because there’s no doubt that its dysfunctional superteam won’t.
Thunderbolts*
Cast
Marvel’s Thunderbolts is a superhero movie based on the comic team of the same name. The movie acts as a part of the MCU’s fifth phase of films. The film sees the likes of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell, the Red Guardian, and more as an unlikely group of heroes and villains brought together to fight for good.
