By the time anyone reads this review, Marvel/Disney has already revealed what the “*” means in the title of its 36th film, ‘Thunderbolts*’. It’s an odd choice to do this for those who haven’t seen the movie because the reveal that these are “The New Avengers” occurs at the end of the film and makes fun of this fact over the end credits. What’s far odder though is Marvel’s willingness now to admit they have a problem and that they so significantly lean into this fact. While they’re smart to center Florence Pugh’s Yelena in this narrative as a depressed, directionless operator, it’s shocking that this has become a metaphor for the entire MCU project in its current state.

Pugh has probably been the brightest of the stars in this new era of the MCU post ‘Endgame’. Many of the new characters as well as the choices of the remaining originals have failed to resonate strongly with fans of this mega-franchise. This collection of self-proclaimed losers can’t turn this around, but those at Marvel know it and use this to craft a pretty good, pretty funny, yet kind of sad and biting series of action set pieces connected by a super cynic in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s wry Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Florence Pugh is a bona-fide movie star, proving over and over to have the ability to elevate anything she is in. Her Yelena was the breakout character in 2021’s ‘Black Widow’. Scar-Jo was surrounded by a makeshift “family” in Marvel’s spy thriller. No less than four characters featured in that prequel film, set before the events of ‘Infinity War’, show up here in ‘Thunderbolts*’, and 3/4 are truly welcome sights. The other “reject” characters who make up this rag-tag “team” are David Harbour’s uproarious Red Guardian father-figure, Wyatt Russell’s disgraced Captain America replacement John Walker (last seen on Disney+ in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), Hannah John-Kamen’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp’ antagonist Ghost, and newly minted Oscar-nominated Sebastian Stan as Bucky (coasting perfectly on his star power). Most intriguingly, but best left unspoiled, is the appearance of Lewis Pullman as “Bob”.

The movie opens to a bleak voice-over and dismal visual tone. Yelena takes a leap off the 2nd tallest building in the world (a much publicized stunt performed by Pugh herself) ostensibly as part of her mission for Valentina, but she might as well be resigning over an aimless life. She had been part of the missing during the “snap” and had to deal with not only the stress of losing five years but also her “sister” Natasha. After being approached in this state by Valentina during the stinger of ‘Black Widow’, Yelena has reluctantly agreed to do her dirty work. While the opening action/fight scene is played for laughs featuring this nonchalant risk-taker, it hints at something darker going on. It’s almost as if Pugh’s Yelena is a symbol of the greater MCU experiment, which is even further exemplified in the next extended set piece. She finds herself stuck with the aforementioned group, all brought together to fight each other through trickery and ultimately to be disposed of remotely by their string-puller Val’s assistant Mel (a fun, non-powered supporting performance from Geraldine Viswanathan). They are a cast of tossed off characters looking for a purpose, one which they eventually find, thus reinvigorating their place in the world and the MCU in general.

‘Thunderbolts*” is not a perfect film, nor does it quite deserve some of the over-the-top accolades that Marvel/Disney is using to market it as the best since “Endgame.” It’s a curious choice to try to place this film in the same echelon, as the movie does not really fit into that age of heroes, nor is it really trying to. Marvel hired Jake Schreier, the main director of the Netflix series ‘Beef’ for a reason, as he brings that same acerbic wit overlaid with a darkness of the soul. Due to this team’s self described “punch and shoot” approach, when they’re up against an impossibly over-powering threat, they must resort to what is basically a therapeutic appeal. Inevitably by the finale of this movie, these broken people find their space in the world together, something Marvel Studios itself is hoping for as fans follow into this next phase . . .

Directed By: Jake Schreier

Written By: Eric Pearson & Joanna Calo

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 126 min.

* * * (out of 4 stars) -OR- B