It's no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has lost its luster since Endgame was released in mid-2018. While it had several flaws that were hard to ignore, it served as a firm conclusion to a story that had been brewing for years, a story in which we were passive accomplices, crying, laughing, and getting excited.
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However, the current outlook for this project is a little more bitter than sweet, plagued by miniseries with little thematic depth and mediocre artistic flair, to the point that I dare say they end up retroactively ruining the triumphs accumulated in the golden age.
Is the MCU dead? No, although many of us would like it to be. From time to time, it manages to produce a decent movie or series, reviving the hype for the franchise and allowing us to reconnect with what we loved when Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans were still starring in these gems.
In 2023, for example, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was responsible for this, which, under the direction of James Gunn, was a beautiful love letter to this group of heroes who went from being a bunch of unknowns to an imposing part of modern popular culture, a perfect metaphor for the path the MCU has taken since Tony Stark built the Iron Man suit in 2008.
Thunderbolts emerges in a more complicated context, under the premise of mixing several secondary characters from other works (Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Ant-Man 2, to name a few) to create a group of irreverent antiheroes, something closer to Suicide Squad than The Avengers, to put it simply.
The idea wasn't bad, admittedly, and the only reason I wouldn't give it a chance is because I'm simply tired of superheroes, and there are alternatives coming out every week that are more appealing. What I didn't count on was that the advertising campaign behind the film would follow a radically different approach than what Marvel has accustomed us to, presenting itself as a much denser and more pretentious film, less focused on references and nods to the past, and more focused on studying its protagonists to tell an effective story—just like in the good old days.
The first reviews came out, and indeed, Thunderbolts was a breath of fresh air that reminded even the most apathetic viewers why this film series was so appealing in the first place. So obviously, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it while it was in theaters.
And, obviously, I think the same thing I did when I saw GOTG Vol. 3: "This doesn't fix the glaring mistakes that have been made since 2018." But once again, we're faced with proof that with a good idea and the right minds behind it, we can continue making films that take advantage of this cinematic universe, a universe that is nothing more than a sandbox where (if they put their minds to it) stories of any genre can be built.
Thunderbolts takes those filler characters and uses them as the engine for a meta-narrative adventure that brilliantly exploits their secondary nature, speaking to us about depression, family, and redemption.
Obviously, it's still plagued by the format's common flaws (a couple of misplaced jokes, uneven pacing, etc.), but overall, it's an extremely refreshing work that can move us with extreme ease.
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It's ironic, considering we're coming off a mediocre film like Brave New World, and I don't think it's enough to rekindle the passion we all felt for the MCU, but it's a step in the right direction that gives us a bit of hope amidst so much apathy.
Score taken from my Letterboxd account.
Twitter/Instagram/Letterbox: Alxxssss
