Thunderbolts* opens with the spotlight focused on Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, whose first Marvel appearance was in Black Widow, where she stole every scene from Scarlett Johansson, who was playing the title role.
This is set several years later, when Yelena, who is tired of being an assassin, asks Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for a position that will mean more and give her purpose. Valentina asks her to do one more job for her as an assassin, and Yelena reluctantly agrees.
When she goes to her new assignment in a warehouse, she discovers John Walker a.k.a. Captain America (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr, a.k.a. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). They soon conclude that Valentina has sent them all to this warehouse with orders to kill each other -- but just in case that doesn't work, they find she's turned the warehouse into a death trap.
They come across a lab patient named Bob (Lewis Pullman), who doesn't seem to know how he got there. After deciding he's harmless, Yelena takes him under her wing as they all try to get out of the building to safety. Bob stays with them throughout the movie as his identity and past is uncovered. He's a very entertaining character.
Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who has become a congressman, joins up with them, as does Yelena's father figure Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour). They team up to put a stop to Valentina's evil plans.
The storyline to this movie is completely fresh and unique. I've never seen a Marvel movie like this before. It goes deep into their personalities and gives audiences a three-dimensional look at these characters. Florence Pugh literally outperforms everyone on the screen -- she doesn't appear to be acting -- she completely inhabits her role. It's amazing to watch.
Nonetheless, Sebastian Stan as Bucky holds his own as well, giving us an in-depth and refreshing look into the Winter Soldier.
Although I was expecting a typical Marvel movie, Thunderbolts* is so much more. It's the first Marvel movie in quite a while to not be a sequel. It's completely original and has depth and emotion, although that's not to say it doesn't have plenty of action.
This new film is my favorite to date of all the Marvel films and shows. I left the theater completely amazed by how inventive it was -- and looking forward to more films about these characters, especially Yelena, Bucky -- and Bob.
5 out of 5 stars.
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