I sat down with Marvel’s Thunderbolts* (yeah, asterisk and all) and this is my spoiler-free take on what is basically the MCU’s version of Suicide Squad: a rag-tag group of screwups and anti-heroes punching and shooting their way out of problems while dragging a lot of trauma behind them. After years of bloated cosmic mayhem, I genuinely found the more grounded, character-focused tone refreshing—at least for most of the runtime. The movie spends a surprisingly long time in its opening location, then hits a short “road trip,” and before you know it, we’re at the finale. Florence Pugh as Yelena is the MVP for me—charismatic, relatable, and carrying real emotional weight, even if I wish the Red Room flashback stuff went darker and dug deeper. David Harbour’s Red Guardian is the lovable dad-energy comedic relief (basically Santa on super soldier serum), and John Walker brings that Kmart Captain America edge that I actually find more interesting than some of the recent Cap stuff. On the flip side, Ghost fades into the background, Taskmaster… who cares, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the power-hungry puppet-master just didn’t work for me—especially where the third act goes. In the end, I liked the themes of depression, regret, and broken relationships, but the movie’s still trapped in that formulaic Marvel shell and it honestly feels like it’s missing a second act. It’s entertaining enough for two hours with popcorn, I probably won’t rewatch it soon, but I am curious where some of these characters go next—and yes, there are two after-credit scenes.