Marvel's Thunderbolts Isn't Really A Thunderbolts Movie (And That's Disappointing)

This post contains spoilers for Marvel's "Thunderbolts*." 

After several years of wondering what Marvel's newest team was going to look like, we need no longer wonder as "Thunderbolts*" is in theaters as we speak. Director Jake Schreier has brought the team to life on the big screen to bring Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a close ... kind of. What did that asterisk in the film's title mean, exactly? While this may be a bit of an oversimplification, it essentially meant we weren't watching a movie about the Thunderbolts at all. 

As we come to learn by the end of "Thunderbolts*," that asterisk existed because the team in the movie was actually introduced to the world as the New Avengers. That's right! Marvel pulled a fast one on us. The team consisting of Yelena Belova, Ghost, John Walker, Red Guardian, and Bucky Barnes is the New Avengers and not the Thunderbolts. (Apologies to Taskmaster, who didn't make it out of the first act alive.) 

This reveal was, in many ways, probably a little exciting for viewers. It was unexpected and clever. "Thunderbolts*" was billed as the end of Phase 5 of the MCU ever since it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022. But Marvel has concluded almost every other Phase of the MCU to date with an "Avengers" movie, save for Phase 4. This was a way for them to do that on the sly. It was a clever way to introduce a New Avengers team in the MCU while keeping that a surprise for viewers, rather than having it spoiled by the title of the movie. 

The only problem with that is that anyone who was excited for an actual "Thunderbolts" movie, or that team existing in the MCU in Phase 6 and beyond, might be left with a feeling of disappointment. I count myself amongst the disappointed in this regard. 

I won't sit here and claim to be a "Thunderbolts" superfan, but I read the 2012 run by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon, loving it a great deal. Created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, the Thunderbolts initially debuted in the pages of "The Incredible Hulk" in 1997 with a team of villains, anti-heroes, and occasionally heroes that has featured a rotating roster over the years. It is, in essence, Marvel's answer to DC's "Suicide Squad."

It's not exactly apples to apples, but that's the idea. Now, David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" isn't exactly a critical darling of a movie, but at least it delivered on what it promised, in that it featured Task Force X doing its thing, with the group later returning (with new members) in James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad." Unfortunately, before even getting to the end of their first cinematic outing, Marvel's Thunderbolts become the New Avengers. The group's existence in the MCU was necessarily brief.

One might have assumed the Thunderbolts, as a team, were set up to have a longer lifespan in the MCU. After all, Harrison Ford made his debut as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in "Captain America: Brave New World," and the group is named after him. But in the MCU, the name comes from Yelena's childhood soccer team. There were pieces on the board that could have made this a viable team, one that is characteristically very different from the Avengers, for years to come. Even if, say, Bucky and Yelena went off to go join the New Avengers, the Thunderbolts could have picked up new members like Baron Zemo, or anyone else locked up in The Raft, to fill a roster spot.

Instead, the Thunderbolts were essentially killed before they even became a proper team within the confines of the MCU. The name was just used to tee up the New Avengers. The cynical, bitter way to look at it would be to say that the New Avengers killed the Thunderbolts. I'm personally comfortable using such language.

The New Avengers aren't even going to be the only Avengers team in the MCU heading into Phase 6. "Brave New World" teed up the ball for Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson to lead an Avengers team of his own. The credits scene attached to "Thunderbolts" revealed that the New Avengers are actually at odds with Sam's Avengers team, which will undoubtedly be dealt with in next year's "Avengers: Doomsday."

For better or worse, Marvel is doubling down on Avengers teams as the Multiverse Saga begins to bring it in for a landing, with 2028's "Secret Wars" set to end this saga, paving the way for something else entirely. Unfortunately, it's now wildly unlikely that the Thunderbolts will be part of it. We just got that movie. What's Marvel going to do — "The Real Thunderbolts" or something along those lines? It feels unlikely. What's more likely is this was a one-and-done thing, meaning fans of the source material who were genuinely looking forward to a proper "Thunderbolts" movie (or movies) are now s*** out of luck, at least for a while.

It would have been nice to see guys like Red Guardian and underused characters like Ghost doing some dirty work that needs doing. It would have been fun to see a gritty side of the MCU that "Avengers" movies don't lend themselves to. This franchise could have offered an avenue to bring back other forgotten characters and offer them meaningful screen time. Alas, that's not what we got and we're not getting it any time soon.

The good news is that "Thunderbolts*," as it exists, has been earning great reviews, by and large. Who knows? Maybe in a few years Marvel Studios will revisit the idea in a more true-to-form fashion. That's the optimistic view. For now, though, people such as myself who were into seeing this team represented on the big screen for the first time ever must live with some level of disappointment because not only are we probably not getting a sequel, the first movie was itself more of a bait-and-switch.

"Thunderbolts" is in theaters now.