Mild Spoilers for the Thunderbolts follow. I don’t discuss the plot in full. I rather give my opinion about performances and aspects of people’s character.
For the first time in a long time Marvel Studios has an undisputed hit on their hands. I saw Thunderbolts this past weekend with ma cheri. Your boy Steviepoooooo has some thoughts!
The first and main takeaway is that Florence Pugh, (pew pew pew) is an A list star. I don’t want to disparage our girl Scarlet Johanson, but Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is already my favorite Black Widow. This is the first time that Marvel has attempted to pass the mantle of a Marvel Hero, such as Captain America, Black Panther, and the new version is unequivocally more interesting and charismatic than the original. I love Scarlet Johanson, but she was lacking a certain type of “je ne sais quoi” when it came to being a believable Russian assassin. Florence Pew Pew Pew, on the other hand is overly convincing as a former Russian assassin with a checkered past. Her Russian accent alone brings a smile to my face whenever I listen to her speak.
I am a straight white male. At least I think I am. The scene where Bucky shows up on the motorcycle and quickly dispatches all of the military cars had me questioning things. He is just so fucking handsome my god. Its annoying.
This was the most interesting Bucky appearance since Captain America the Winter Solider.
Marvel is doing something very interesting by having him serve as a de-facto guidance counselor for heroes with a checkered past and mental health issues. His subtle references to his horrid past as the Winter Solider were some of the funniest parts of the film.
Towards the end of the film when the Void was making people relive the worst moments of their life Bucky casually jokes that “I had a great past, so it was fine.” Thanks to those buttholes over at Hydra he was anything but fine. It is awesome to see that Bucky is clearly in the acceptance phase when it comes to processing his grief.
Another highlight of the film was Julia Louis Dreyfus’ charismatic portrayal of Valentina Allegra De Fontaine. Full disclosure, I have been in love with this woman since I first saw her on Seinfeld when I was about twelve years old. Her face is just perfect. To be honest with you she kind of looks like my wife…. coincidence? I think Not!
Ok, now that I have finished thirsting about the actress, let’s talk about the character. I very much enjoyed watching her serve as Marvel’s slightly evil Nick Fury. I would not go so far to call Valentina completely evil. She just is way more willing to cross the line than Mr. Fury. I hope we one day get to watch these two characters interact in some capacity.
The third shining star, and possibly the star the shone the brightest, was Lewis Pullmans, portrayal of Bob Reynolds/The Sentry/The Void.
In the books, and yes, I have read some of the graphic novels with the Sentry in it because I am a loser, the Sentry is a paranoid schizophrenic who ends up with incredibly powerful superpowers following an experiment. His origin story is very similar in the film. Marvel does an amazing job of portraying Bob’s struggle with mental health.
It was very refreshing to watch Marvel discuss a serious subject such as mental health and depression. This made their movie feel like it more of a soul than some of its contemporaries.
The Sentry was originally set to be portrayed by Steven Yeun from The Walking Dead and Beef. I was incredibly excited about this casting when it was announced. I was also very sad when Yeun exited due to scheduling conflicts. That being said Lewis Pullman gave an admirable performance of the character. I think he did a great job making the audience feel for him while displaying the complicated layers of the character. I am very excited to see what Marvel decides to do with the character going forward.
The connection between Bob and Yelena was my favorite part of the movie. There is a bond some people form when they can sense a deep billowing sadness brewing within the other person. Sometimes a beautiful kinship between the two people will form. It was incredibly uplifting to see this be the case for Bob and Yelena.
Some final thoughts, David Harbour was hilarious, and it was really cool to see Ghost back after not seeing her since 2018 in Antman and the Wasp. John Walker is the worst, but his character added a lot to the movie. It would not have been nearly as good without him. If the Thunderbolts were a sports team, he would be the best role player.
I could not recommend this movie enough. I am excited for the near future of Marvel for the first time in a long time. FANTASTIC FOUR!
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A bienot!
Bennie's Blasts 
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