Jake Shreier

Misfits. Assemble. After multiple movies and projects where they were supporting characters, Marvel has finally brought its most dysfunctional antiheroes together in Thunderbolts*. They’re here to kick butt and take names – or at least try to. As we’ve seen in Black Widow and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, corrupt Contessa and current CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has approached numerous assassins and field agents to join what we thought was a league of antiheroes. Each of them, fed up with being a pawn, approaches her with the idea of one last gig.

Since the overhaul of Marvel films that have been released since Endgame, it’s been difficult to get excited for any of the upcoming sequel or spinoffs. However, the 36th installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thunderbolts* offers something more original and more cathartic than the traditional superhero formula. Thunderbolts* succeeds in doing what Suicide Squad couldn’t, making moviegoers care about a group of powerful outsiders, and create an intriguing backstory that will leave you curious to know more.