Critics Are RAVING About ‘Thunderbolts*’
When Marvel Studios returned to theaters last year with Deadpool & Wolverine, both the expectations and the stakes were high.
For years after the Marvel Cinematic Universe looked invincible, producing some of the biggest films cinema had ever seen, now, Kevin Feige and his team found themselves at a crossroads.
2022 was objectively a disaster for the MCU, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underachieving and The Marvels bombing. The weight of the Marvel multiverse, then, was on the shoulders of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
Photo: Marvel
When Deadpool & Wolverine proved to be another monumental success for Marvel, the studio could breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Failed to Soar
Unfortunately, Marvel was unable to ride the momentum into 2025. The first MCU film to hit theaters this year was Captain America: Brave New World, which reportedly scored poorly with test audiences and underwent numerous reshoots.
Photo: Marvel
Despite a strong opening weekend, Brave New World soon petered out at the box office, ending its run with a $418 million global cume. Suddenly, it became evident that Marvel was not on the solid footing that many assumed.
Enter ‘Thunderbolts*’
It is against this backdrop that Thunderbolts* arrives in theaters this weekend.
The arrival of the Thunderbolts will usher in a new era for the MCU, as the latest Marvel superteam will not be comprised of the well-meaning Avengers but a group of antiheroes and former villains.
Photo: Marvel
Under the watcful eye of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfus), Thunderbolts* will bring together former villains and anti-heroes including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell).
Photo: USA Today
While it remains to be seen how the film fares at the box office, critics are lauding Thunderbolts* so far.
Another Marvel Blockbuster?
As of this writing, Thunderbolts* holds an 88% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Photo: Marvel
That number is good enough to make the film the 14th-highest rated MCU film of all time. It also gives Marvel its highest-rated film since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Compared to Captain America: Brave New World’s 48% “rotten” rating, Thunderbolts* looks like Best Picture material.
The hope for Marvel is that strong critical reviews and word of mouth will propel Thunderbolts* to an extended box office run and give the film the kind of legs that eluded Brave New World.
Photo: Marvel
While it is still too early to tell how the Thunderbolts* story will end, so far things look good.
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