This humorous entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, brings together a quarreling group of scruffy misfits. You can tell that from the glowering looks and bad grooming that this isn’t about a Steve Rogers’ tragic heroic figure or a glib genius billionaire. But you might be puzzled if you haven’t been following the MCU in all its iterations as to who are these people in the fake Wheaties lineup (Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, US Agent).

Black Widow (2021)

The essential viewing would be the “Black Widow” since the primary character focused on here is Natasha Romanova/Black Widow’s adoptive sister, Yelena Bulova (Florence Pugh). She’s introduced in the 2021 “Black Widow.” You also get to meet the Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), the Soviet answer to Captain America, a Russian soldier filled with bluster. There, in the Red Room, you also meet Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Ukrainian-born French actress Olga Kurylenko) who is the daughter of the Russian general (Ray Winstone) who is the head of the Red Room. The Red Room is a top-secret Soviet training program for kidnapped or displaced girls who become elite spies and assassins known as Black Widows. The survival rate is low.

In “Black Widow,” Alexei Shostakov and Black Widow assassin Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz)are posing an an all-American family in Ohio in 1995 with Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Yelena Belova as their daughters. During this time, we learn later, Belova was part of a sports league and her team was called the Thunderbolts. After they escape to Cuba with SHIELD intel, they are separated with Romanoff and Belova entering Dreykov’s Red Room to be trained as assassins. Shostakov is imprisoned while Romanoff go on to become Black Widow assassins. But in 2016, Romanoff and Belova team up to free Shostakov, fight Dreykov, Taskmaster and the school of assassins. Dreykov has been using a mind-control chemical, but Romanoff and Belova take the antidote and free the widows, including Taskmaster.

In the post-credits scene, we also meet Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is also central to the plot of “Thunderbolts*” and operates in a moral gray area. A contessa, she is the one who meets the failed Captain America, John Walker (Wyatt Russell) in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” TV series, and gives him the moniker US Agent. She is also the person who convinces Belova to kill Clint Barton, blaming him for Romanoff’s death. In order to protect Kate Bishop, Clint Barton breaks off his partnership with Bishop in the “Hawkeye” miniseries. In the final episode of “Hawkeye” (“So This Is Christmas?”), Clint Barton/Hawkeye convinces Belova that Valentina lied to her.

Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) is from “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” but she really isn’t a villain. According to that film, she was in her father’s lab, when an exploding that killed both her parents, caused her body to be in a constant state of “molecular disequilibrium.” Recruited by scientist Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), she is trained by SHIELD and given a suit that helps her control her powers. When SHIELD is taken over by the villainous HYRA, she goes rogue. Hoping to harness the energy from that was absorbed by Janet van Dyne’s (Michelle Pfeiffer) body in the Quantum Realm, she fights with Janet’s husband Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Janet and Hank’s daughter Hope van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly)  and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) who hope to retrieve Janet. Janet voluntarily gives Ava/Ghost her energy to help stabilize her. In the end credits, Pym, Hope and Janet are waiting for Lang who has gone into the Quantum Realm to harvest quantum energy when they turn to dust because of the Blip.

Thunderbolts*

At the beginning of “Thunderbolts*,” Belova is on top of a skyscraper, at the very edge pondering, “There’s something wrong with me, an emptiness.” Since the death of her adopted sister Natasha, she’s been depressed as she notes, “I thought it started when my sister died, but now it’s something bigger.” It is “just a void” and that, for Marvel fans, his foreshadowing. Then she considers, “Or maybe I’m just bored.”

She’s on the building–Malaysia’ Merdeka 118–the second tallest building in the world (The tallest being the Burj Khalifa in Dubai), not to consider suicide, but as part of her work, being in “the cleanup business.” This week she’s in Asia, but she doesn’t know where she’ll be next week. People die easily and the audience isn’t supposed to care because this isn’t happening in the North America or Europe. It’s happening in Asia.

Despite knowing that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine lied to her about her adoptive sister, Natasha Romanoff, Belova is working for Valentina who is attempting to cover up her work as the chairman of the OXE Group. At the start of the film, now the former director of the CIA, Valentina is under investigation for wrongdoings and she’s working hard with the help of her assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) to destroy all evidence against her. Bucky Barnes is now a freshman congressman watching Valentina who has been asked to use his superpower and connections to help dig up the dirt.

Soon enough Belova discovers that she’s not the only one employed by Valentina to cleanup. She meets and battles with Ava Star/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) , Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and John Walker/US Agent (Wyatt Russell). Eventually, they will first be saved by Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and they by Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Although Ghost, Taskmaster, John Walker, Red Guardian and Belova know each other, they don’t know Bob. Who and what Bob is is central to this origin story as is the mysterious titular asterisk. No spoilers here.

Just remember that Bucky Barnes hasn’t been a group leader and neither has anyone of this new team. The screenplay by Eric Pearson (“Thor: Ragnarok” and “Black Widow”) and Joanna Malo (“Hacks” and “BoJack Horseman”) works well enough, but none of the new team have the kind of chemistry of buddies or work husband/wife that we’ve seen in other MCU ventures. Director Jake Schreier manages the tonal changes well enough, but the cinematography (Andrew Drop Palermo) and lighting isn’t always the best (e.g. backlit with no fill lights).  It is disappointing that although a key moment takes place in Asia (Malaysia), that none of this new team or main characters is of Asian descent (although Steven Yeun was reportedly in talks to play one of the team members).

For diversity, there is English actress Hannah Dominique John-Kamen who is of Norwegian (mother) and Nigerian (father) descent. Australian actress Geraldine Viswanathan is of Indian Tamil descent (father) and Swiss (mother).

Overall, this 36th MCU  is a good entry into this universe and it ends Phase Five. My husband liked it better than “Captain America: Brave New World” but I think for diversity “Captain America: Brave New World” was more important. From a fashion perspective, my dogs and I are on the side of Sam Wilson’s Captain America.  I also love the on-screen off-screen bromance between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. “Thunderbolts” doesn’t add Southeast or East Asian diversity to the MCU, a cinematic universe that already had Black actors in major roles such as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), Dar-Benn (Dawe Ashton)  and Shuri (Letitia Wright) and when it easily could have.

This humorous entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, brings together a quarreling group of scruffy misfits. Pugh and Harbour really are the center of this found family and Pugh ably leads this cast. No fashion inspirations here for me at least although costume designer Sanja Milkovic Hays, does give us everything we need to know about this ragtag group. The film has good pacing and fight scenes (Can Aydin, fight coordinator) with some slight contemplation about power and mental as opposed to molecular instability (but nothing as dark as the 2017-2019 “Legion” or the 2022 “Moon Knight”). As always with MCU screenings, stay for the credits which are particularly clever. There is a mid-credit scene and a post-credit scene.

“Thunderbolts*” premiered on 22 April 2025 in London, England. It is scheduled to be released in the US on 2 May 2025.  I viewed an IMAX press screening.