It’s the “Yelena & Friends” show!

Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) has thrown herself into black-ops work doing cleanups for CIA head Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). It’s a distraction from the loss of her sister Natasha Romanoff (see Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow, and “Hawkeye”) plus a general sense of aloneness in the world, even distancing herself from her well-meaning-but-fake father-figure Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) aka the Red Guardian. Also working for de Fontaine are disgraced former-replacement Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) aka Ghost, and Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) aka Taskmaster. While freshman congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) helps in non-violent ways to impeach de Fontaine after alarming reports of her secret research and overseas laboratories, all surviving evidence was already moved by her assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) into a secure bunker. With all of de Fontaine’s liabilities gathered into one spot — including those working for her — there’s only one thing left to do… but who in the hell is Bob (Lewis Pullman)?

We’ve finally reached the end of Marvel Phase 5, and with the upending of the actor playing Kang, this was neither the film nor story anyone had originally envisioned or promised to close out this chapter. Director Jake Schreier working from a script from Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo, and Kurt Busiek found their inspirations within: the toll on a person’s psyche who’ve been trained to kill on command and find comfort falling into routine rather than addressing their actual trauma. While it’s simple to make that connection to Bucky, Yelena, and the rest of these misfits, the trailers happily underplay who the big bad villain actually is. Of course there’s some kind of nebulous threat, but who’s dealing with it and how — for better or worse — is where we lay our scene. For those who weren’t spoiled by Marvel themselves opening weekend, does it actually matter what that asterisk stands for?

The sigh heard ’round the Magic Kingdom is Marvel Studios unclenching its collective keister. As of this review, Thunderbolts* is already a hit and an easy tee-up for the upcoming Phase 6 introduction of The Fantastic Four: First Steps and continuing with Avengers: Doomsday next year. There have already been comparisons to the Suicide Squad movies (including one in-movie quote), but DCU films tend be binary in terms of who is a hero and who isn’t. In contrast, Marvel’s morally gray characters have existed since their very inception into comics parlance. The collective uselessness regarding this ensemble is punctuated in conversations between Mel and Valentina, including trailer quotes like “There are only bad guys and worse guys” and “The Avengers are not coming.” Why does all this sound familiar, a group of would-be public-facing wannabes that absolutely no one believes in? They’re not your classic heroes, they’re the other guys: Thunderbolts* is Marvel’s Mystery Men.

Pugh’s Yelena is the soul of the story, properly reintroduced at the film’s beginning with her lovable “it’s just a job” sentiments seen in “Hawkeye” and Black Widow. Her mask is slipping, revealing a need for more than accomplishment; she craves comradery, assurance, and kinship, to crawl out from the shadows and “get the red out of her ledger.” The meetup in the bunker becomes the beginning of these admissions by everyone and culminating in an ending where, for better or worse, they’ll need do the right thing or die trying. It’s less a hero’s journey than a collective redemption arc, sorting out where everyone falls into these gray areas and making peace with it. On the other side of the spectrum is Pullman’s Bob, a never-was desperate to become somebody, triggering Yelena’s not-to-be-ignored protective instincts. And yes, “Bob” was also Pullman’s character name/callsign in Top Gun: Maverick, and he reportedly begged to have it changed.

Obviously not intended as any kind of guide, addressing mental health issues is long overdue, especially for those punching or shooting their way out of problems. There’s a cumulative toll that’s disingenuous to anything less than a peer group, and seeing the influence of those moments are what makes the narrative in the film relatable on a human level; life sucks, but it sucks less around others who understand precisely how their life sucks. In other words, you don’t have to be an infectious cheerleader like the Red Guardian to identify with wanting to be among the helpers running toward certain danger; you just have to find the courage.

Thunderbolts* is rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, some suggestive and drug references, and “pushing it down” is never the best solution.

Four skull recommendation out of four