I have been watching Marvel Movies all my life, from Iron man now to the Thunderbolts. Marvel has made a large transition in themes since the last large storyline concluded. From overcoming a competition of strength and worthiness to a battle of mental fortitude.

The Thunderbolts covers characters that have already shown up in previous movies, with the addition of the hero Sentry (played by Lewis Pullman). 

The movie covers more of an emotional standpoint than the usual hero arc of beating a villain. Thunderbolts  opens with Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh) monologuing on how she has lost so much and it makes life so boring.

As well as with the hero Sentry being introduced, his power of going into someone’s mind was highlighted throughout the movie. With the character himself being bipolar, split personality and a former drug addict that is emotionally unstable. 

With Sentry being a god-like being and the anti heroes that make the team, the Thunderbolts are more like street level assassins. To help Sentry in his mental crisis the Thunderbolts use the power of friendship in a mental world rather than a huge fight.

The use of how important having friends in your life is somewhat overused and a bit predictable when it comes to a large conflict where the protagonist(s) are overwhelmed. The “power of friendship” seems like a cop out in this movie to avoid the big hero fights we anticipate in movies that come from marvel. 

Since the movie also takes place in New York, the residents take another huge blow to their society with what occurs in the movie. The events affect all of New York and yet there’s no other hero that comes to aid the situation. 

As most fans know, Marvel puts one or two post credit scenes at the end of their movies. With the ending of the movie claiming that the Thunderbolts will be the new Avengers. The second post credit scene highlights the conflict of government appointed team of heroes versus self appointed teams. 

In all the movie was decent but still marvel is missing that iconic feel it had in the earlier movies. With the ending of the movie transitioning to the name of New Avengers, alluding to internal conflicts with other heroes and the introduction of the Fantastic 4 which is Marvel’s next project.