Thunderbolts* 2025
Jake Schreier ('Beef', 'Robot & Frank') directs; Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo ('The Bear') write; Andrew Droz Palermo shoots, and the editor cut 'Minari,' an indie-pedigree crew Marvel leaned into with an A24-style trailer. All three land in the same place: creaky, exposition-heavy first 45 minutes, then it clicks once David Harbour's Red Guardian shows up. Florence Pugh's Yelena carries it; Sebastian Stan's Bucky 'blows almost everybody else off the screen' barely trying. Lewis Pullman (Steven Yeun's replacement) plays Bob/the Sentry/the Void, a superhero and supervillain in one body whose power is literally depression. Amanda dissents on Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Val. Praised for real locations and practical effects over volume-stage 'video game vomit'; the climax is a group hug, and the New Avengers stinger sets up 'Doomsday' and 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps'. The 36th MCU film and the last of Phase Five.