Marvel Entertainment’s latest film, Thunderbolts, is hardly electrifying. Despite all the wrangling to make a cinematic universe that depends on one another to keep fans invested, trying to watch this latest only made me think of Suicide Squad more than accepting this new team is the next Avengers. I got bored halfway through the film, and it’s mostly because of a lack of interest in who makes up this team.
As much as I like Yelena Belova’s (Florence Pugh) new look and what’s motivating her to continue on, I am glad to see David Harbour back as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian. He’s still the comic relief. As for the others, I couldn’t care less because of one problem.
Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) may well be this movie’s answer to who will be the next Shadowcat! Her codename is Ghost, and the similarities are apparent. Although I don’t know if the studio will confirm or deny Kitty Pryde’s existence in the reboot of X-Men, I’m monitoring who will make up this MCU version of the team! Whatever the choice, I will be sad that my favourite mutant may not see existence.
And to get Bucky (Sebastian Stan) more involved than usual is too little too late. He deserves a solo film, and I suspect that idea suffered the same fate as the teased Gambit movie. When his narrative continues from where Captain America: Brave New World left off, I am left wondering what has he done since his last appearance?
Also, when this film marks the last entry in phase six of the grand plan of the Multiverse saga, I’m still finding most of the films from this run lacklustre. The Marvel Cinematic Universe should have ended with a hard stop with Avengers: Endgame. It created a generation of fans who enjoyed that run. Ever since then, none of the newer releases have measured up to how all the films would culminate in that once and for all showdown. And when the big evil boss gets revealed much too early, there’s no anticipation. To continue in the television front is the better choice instead of trying to be everywhere!
3 Stars out of 5
Thunderbolts Trailer
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