Walking out of ‘Thunderbolts*’ (yes, that asterisk matters), I felt something I hadn’t experienced from Marvel in years: a flutter of genuine excitement. This isn’t just another franchise machine; it’s a rallying cry disguised as a superhero film, a beautiful mess of humanity wrapped in trauma.
As someone who’s longed for Marvel to slow down and sit with the emotional wreckage of its characters, this feels like a long-overdue course correction. At the centre is Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, not just Natasha’s sarcastic little sister, but the haunted, angry, deeply human heart of a film that dares to ask, What if the mission wasn’t to save the world, but to save yourself?
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Thunderbolts*: About Yelena Belova — Wounded Bird
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is the storm’s eye, the standout in a lineup of the discarded. ‘Black Widow’ hinted at it, but ‘Thunderbolts*’ confirms it, she’s Marvel’s most compelling character right now. Pugh breathes fire into Yelena, a woman haunted by a past where her choices were never her own, yet determined to write her future on her own terms.
She’s deadly yet tender, wounded yet resilient, haunted yet hilarious.She is, simply, a wounded bird.
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Marvel Female Characters: Yelena vs the Rest
Marvel has had strong women before, Natasha, Gamora, Carol, and more but they’ve often been styled as idealised warriors, strong in ways that appeal to men. Yelena’s strength hits differently.
We see her shield fall. We see her protect Bob, take on the Void, and face memories she’s spent a lifetime outrunning. And in the end, she chooses to stay not because she has to, but because she’s finally decided she’s worth it.
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The Villain Is In You
Valentina, played with sharp coldness by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, isn’t loud or wild, she’s calm, clever, and dangerous. She doesn’t care about people, only power. In her scenes with Bob, her smile hides control. She doesn’t believe in loyalty just in what she can use.
But the real villain in ‘Thunderbolts*’ isn’t her. It’s something deeper, yourself.
This film shows how your past, your trauma, guilt, fear can take over your present. The characters aren’t just fighting others. They’re fighting the parts of themselves they’ve been running from. That voice in your head that says you’re too broken to be good.
‘Thunderbolts*’ isn’t about saving the world. It’s about saving yourself from the worst version of you.
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‘Thunderbolts*’ might not be the loudest, flashiest Marvel movie in years, but it’s the most necessary. It trades capes and glory for scars and survival. It reminds us that not everyone in this universe is destined for legend. Some are just trying to live and that’s more heroic than anything.
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