Thunderbolts, the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, lands in theaters this weekend. But after a few misfires and meh movies, like February’s Captain America: Brave New World, it started to feel like the MCU couldn’t score a home run. Thankfully, according to critics, Thunderbolts might be the return to form the MCU has needed for a while now, and the best entry in the franchise in years.
Over on Rotten Tomatoes, as of 1:00 p.m. EST on April 29, Thunderbolts has a 91 on the aggregation site after 70+ reviews. And while Rotten Tomatoes is a flawed and not-great way to judge movies critically, it can at least provide us with a general “vibe check” for how movie critics across the web feel about a movie. And it seems most of them are digging Thunderbolts. If that 91 sticks, it would make Thunderbolts one of the highest-reviewed MCU movies of all time.
Across multiple reviews, Florence Pugh’s performance as the returning Yelena Belova is cited as a standout that helps elevate the entire movie. This time around, the badass assassin and sister of Black Widow is dealing with depression and a sense that her life lacks purpose. The rest of the Thunderbolts team, who she meets up with after someone tries to get them all killed, is made up of characters from past MCU projects who are now forced to work with each other to save the day and maybe themselves. It sounds like there’s a shocking amount of introspection and heart in this latest MCU superhero adventure, something that has been lacking in many recent entries.
“But for everything else the script does well, its most impressive feat comes as it slowly peels back its characters’ layers,” said Polygon’s Austen Goslin. “On paper, Thunderbolts* is obviously Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad, a collection of people who have done bad things teaming up for a shot at redemption by saving the day. But rather than the blunt-force humor of both Suicide Squad films, [screenwriters] Calo and Pearson seem more interested in exploring what it means for these characters to unexpectedly find themselves as heroes, and how their past actions weigh on them.”
Another standout performance is delivered by Lewis Pullman who plays Bob, a character who is more that he might initially seem.
“His journey to becoming The Sentry is a story about mental health and extreme loneliness,” said Clint Gage in IGN’s review. “There are days when Bob feels every bit the invincible Sentry, and days when he can’t help but let The Void take over and wreak havoc. He’s the exact right opposition for a character like Yelena, who’s constantly questioning the things she’s done and how she should feel about herself. As Bob forces the members of the Thunderbolts to face the darkest times in their lives, the movie makes its most potent statements about how broken these people really are.”
Critics were happy to find that Thunderbolts doesn’t turn into a CGI slopfest in the final 30 minutes and that the action generally stays legible, grounded, and exciting, not something you can say about many modern blockbusters.
Thunderbolts also has a strong ending according to multiple reviews. Many critics praised the ending for being even better than the start, an uncommon trait for MCU film.
“That the final act of the movie is essentially set in a headspace, rather than above a threatened metropolis, is a testament to the interiority (not a word that often comes up in Marvel movies) of Thunderbolts, a film that finds vivid comic book imagery to render authentic real-life emotions,” said AP film critic Jake Coyle.
Over at the Mary Sue, Rachel Leishman summed up what many critics suggested in their reviews: that Thunderbolts feels like an older MCU movie less dedicated to setting up the future or squeezing in some multiverse nonsense, and instead is focused on telling a tight, well-paced superhero story with characters you care about interacting with each other. “Thunderbolts is what I’ve always loved about Marvel movies and I can’t wait to watch it ten more times,” said Leishman.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts arrives in theaters on May 2, 2025.
