Thunderbolts reawakens some of the spark that’s been lost in many Marvel Cinematic Universe movies since Avenger’s: Endgame in 2019. 

The movie opens with a high-energy shot as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is seen jumping off the roof of Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world. Viewers quickly find she is running errands for Valentina de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but doesn’t enjoy her job or its out-of-the-spotlight nature.

Eventually Yelena has to team up with antiheroes Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and a peculiar addition to the team, Bob (Lewis Pullan), to face their tragic past and save the world from a villain who is said to be more powerful than all the original Avengers combined.

The self-aware attitudes of the characters and the plot’s focus on their mental health is extremely refreshing, given Marvel’s history of sidelining plot-significant mental health issues, with the exception of the Moon Knight series.

Overall, the movie has a well curated balance of high-action scenes, plot development, and humor. However, the conclusion feels somewhat rushed.

Thunderbolts closes Marvel’s fifth phase and leaves with fans a spark of hope that the MCU’s post-Endgame era of movie flops is coming to a close as well.