Thunderbolts*

The Avengers are gone. Inaccessible. Missing. This is as true for film audiences as it is for the characters that populate the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Julia Louis-Dreyfus' nefarious CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has taken over Avengers Tower in New York City and is using burnt-out has-beens to clean up her myriad of experiments after the US Congress tries to frame her. One of these "cleaners" is Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) who, after the death of her sister, hasn't quite found herself again. However, along with a bunch of other oddball C-list anti-heroes, like a failed Captain America candidate and her embarrassing Soviet super-soldier dad, she finds something worth fighting for when Valentina's darkest secret bubbles to the surface.

Since Endgame, things haven't really moved on - narratively speaking. We've had introduction after introduction of new potential heroes who could take over the mantle, but nothing has really stuck in the minds of film audiences, and some fans have checked out entirely. Thunderbolts*, on the other hand, is meant to be a bridge to the next Marvel era and on several levels, Marvel's answer to Suicide Squad actually manages to engage and entertain. This is thanks to a slightly smarter script than usual that focuses more on grey areas than swashbuckling action, although there is some of that towards the end.

Thunderbolts* is well thought out when it comes to the antagonist. The film's villain is as easy to sympathise with as he is to fear, and is at the centre of the film's main conflict. But the real antagonist of the film is, interestingly, mental illness. Several of the characters are deeply depressed and much is laughed at on the surface, but inside these comic book characters are in a lot of pain. Unfortunately, not all the characters manage to be quite so three-dimensional, but I really like the dynamics of these misfit anti-heroes. Pugh is particularly brilliant as the deeply unhappy Widow in an already solid cast.

The film deals with the endless emptiness that comes after years of psychological strain and takes on horrifying effect when manifested in physical form. It's a refreshing concept that saves Thunderbolts* from being typical Marvel mediocrity. Usually, kicking and punching is the solution to many problems in Marvel films, but in this film it takes more than just physical violence to overcome the real problem: depression.

That said, the logic of the film is somewhat flimsy, which is unfortunately a common feature of these films. I also find that the humour doesn't always land, especially when adult characters sometimes talk like sarcastic teenagers. Some elements feel slightly forced. You're also left with a bad aftertaste after the filmmakers get rid of a certain character as soon as he is introduced. Wasn't that character's painful story really not worth telling? It felt like an unnecessary waste.

As a whole, however, Thunderbolts* managed to surprise me. Granted, you have to do your homework to understand who Walker is, for example, but it's a driven film that doesn't contain a dull second and tackles slightly more thought-provoking themes than the average Marvel flick. Only the twist towards the end of the film (there are two post-credits scenes) is more interesting than the Marvel experiences of recent years. In other words, Thunderbolts* (yes, there is a point to this asterisk) is the comeback punch that this universe needed to revive interest in future Avengers films.