When it was announced that Jake Schreier would be the next director to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe family, most people responded with a simple "Who?" Which isn't to say that Schreier hadn't been busy since "Paper Towns" established him as an up-and-comer, just that he hadn't become especially well known. His Francis and the Lights connection got him music video gigs for superstars like Kanye, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Haim, and Kendrick Lamar. That's presumably how he ended up directing the concert film, "Chance the Rapper's Magnificent Coloring World." Out of my completist compulsions, and not because I'm familiar at all with Mr. the Rapper's music, I tried to locate that one for this Report Card but it doesn't seem to be available since its 2021 theatrical run. Probably most importantly to Disney/Marvel, who produce movies a lot like how they produce TV shows, Schreier had also proven himself as a reliable television director. He had multi-episode runs on critically acclaimed series like "Lodge 49," "Brand New Cherry Flavor," and "Beef," among spots on other edgy cable/streaming shows I've never heard of. Being long time friends with the guy who made Marvel some "Spider-Mans" probably didn't hurt either. Whatever convinced them, Schreier is the latest indie director plucked out of obscurity by the big budget superhero factory.
The project he would be asked to steer was the Thunderbolts. In the comics, the Thunderbolts were originally a group of B-list supervillains who – after the Avengers disappeared into a crossover event singularity – began masquerading as heroes. They soon discover that doing good feels good and quickly take their con legit. That probably would've made for a pretty fun movie, with the current Avenger-less state of the MCU and traditional team leader Baron Zemo already existing in-universe presenting an easy set-up. Despite the clever premise, the team has been subjected to a constantly shifting line-up and frequent changes in direction. Eventually, they would mutate into something like Marvel's answer to DC's Suicide Squad, a group of supervillains seeking redemption alongside other ragtag misfits. That's the direction the movie seemed to take, drawing its roster mostly from the forgettable "Black Widow" movie, alongside Bucky, the antagonist from "Ant-Man and the Wasp," and a guy who debuted in one of the streaming series.
It was, in other words, not the most promising set-up for a blockbuster. "Thunderbolts" felt a lot like superhero table scraps to me, a remnant of Marvel's assumption that the general public was way more invested in spin-offs about minor supporting characters than they truly were. Unsurprisingly, the cinematic "Thunderbolts*" – the title hassled with an asterisk for easily foreseen reasons – was subjected to extensive reshoots and repeated delays. This did little to raise my expectations for the latest entry into a once-ubiquitous pop culture force that seems to be floundering in recent years. Nor did it change the perception that Jake Schreier was another young, pliable, powerless director chosen by the Marvel Machine because he could be pushed around by the producers who actually make these movies. Well, "Thunderbolts*" is out now. People seem to actually like it, so either I was wrong or the studio managed to build up enough buzz to slightly re-inflate the superhero bubble.
Shortly after completing the first “Guardians of the Galaxy,” James Gunn mentioned the Thunderbolts as another Marvel title he might be interested in. Supposedly, he scratched that itch after making “The Suicide Squad.” This information will do nothing to dissuade those who claim all of Gunn's superhero movies are the same. Despite the fact that he's running the Distinguished Competition now, Gunn's fingerprints are all over “Thunderbolts*.” This is another story of a group of misfits, thrown together by fate. Most of them dislike each other at first but soon learn to see their good sides. They're up against a threat way more powerful than them but prove uniquely suited to the challenge. By the end, you can already sees the threads of a make-shift family forming. I don't mind Marvel trying to recreate “Guardians of the Galaxy's” formula but it is a little disappointing to see these very different characters fit inside that same mold. For example, it would've been cool if “Thunderbolts*” had touched upon the Sentry's main gimmick in the comics. That he appears as if he's always been there, a new character that everyone remembers being a great hero for years. One imagines scenes from past Marvel movies with the Sentry hastily added into them, for example.
Despite the obvious debt “Thunderbolts*” owes to to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, this superhero project eventually finds its own approach. The Guardians were anti-heroes and outcast. This gang is much more dysfunctional. Yelena is deeply depressed and nursing a drinking problem. Alexei lives in a crappy apartment and has a day job driving a crappy cab. Walker doom-scrolls articles about his own failures, his self-pity causing his wife to leave him and take their kid. Bob is the biggest fuck-up yet, thoroughly traumatized by a shitty childhood with drug abuse and constant instability in his past. Bucky Barnes is, by far, the most stable of the group... And he's depicted as living alone, socially awkward, bad at his day job, and forced to do mundane chores like put his robot arm in the dish washer. This approach leans into what was one of my concerns about the film, that its cast of characters were underwhelming cast-offs. To paraphrase an earlier film about an idiosyncratic team of crimefighters: They are not your classic superheroes, not the favorites, the ones nobody bets on. They're the other guys.
That unresolved trauma, and their stubborn refusal to resolve it, deserves most of the blame for our motley crew of heroes being like this. However, it's also not totally their faults. They were born into a world they had no control over. It's the same world where they are powerless against the whims of tyrannical politicians. Those in power openly break the law without fear of repercussions. If consequences – such as the lingering threat of impeachment – do appear, what's to stop these leaders from wiggling free of punishment simply by breaking more laws? If the Thunderbolts are heroes of our time, than slimy, condescending, possibly insane, strangely magnetic, and utterly petty Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is a stand-in for the political leaders of our time. It's difficult not to be an emotionally arrested fuck-up when our president is a conniving crook invested only in his own money and power.
While Val is the manipulator behind these events, she's ultimately less dangerous than the threat she unleashes. Rather than the spectre of fascism or disease, the big bad in “Thunderbolts*” Is The Void: In the comics, that's the alternate personality of the Sentry, the antithesis of an ultimate hero. Here, the Void becomes a symbol of the depression dragging Bob – and all the protagonists – down. He's depicted as a suffocating blackness, that makes people disappear as they are sucked into its depth. Once within, they are surrounded by painful memories that they can't escape. They are repeatedly reminded of all the mistakes they can't forgive themselves for. It's a potent metaphor for clinical depression. And intrusive thoughts and OCD and anxiety and every other chemical imbalance in our brains that tells us we aren't good enough, that makes you feel like non-existence is preferable to living.
“Thunderbolts*” isn't only seeking to stretch millennial self-doubt across larger-than-life superhero metaphors. It also represents the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a very self-aware mood. Valentina's end game is to engineer a perfect hero, the ultimate one-man Avenger team that is personally at her beck-and-call. She thinks Bob's history of mental illness will make him easier to control, underestimating the power of the Void. But there's a more obvious truth here: You can't build a hero in a laboratory. The last five years has seen Disney/Marvel take an especially mercenary approach to expanding its cinematic universe, attempting to create a new wave of Avengers that could take the place of the first generation of charismatic, beloved characters and keep those billions rolling in. It hasn't exactly worked out and it remains to be seen how many of the future storylines the studio has set-up will now be paid off on. The Sentry appearing as a made-by-committee do-gooder that proves to be a monstrous failure feels like a commentary on this tactic.
While I'm sure “Thunderbolts*” was as designed in a boardroom as much as any of Marvel Studios' other capeshit, it does try and resist the overly work-shopped and dissected feeling the last few MCU flicks have had. In fact, the plot here is refreshingly ramshackle in a lot of ways. Nearly the entire first half of the movie is devoted to Yelena and her new team mates simply trying to escape the Vault. The characters truly do feel thrown together by coincidence, including a seventh cast member that is quickly disposed of. (If another example of the MCU tossing away another iconic comic character.) From here on out, the plot almost plays out in real time, feeling like the cast is flying by the seat of their pants as they desperately race against time. This allows the film to zero in on its ensemble and to create a propulsive story that is always moving forward.
However, I do think Jake Schreier potential has decent chops as a horror movie director. The most striking visual of the film is how the Void is depicted, as a totally detail-free shadow save for a pair of pin-point lights at the eyes. That's a creepy, memorable image. It is accompanied by the sight of people vanishing into the spreading cloud of depression in a puff of smoke that burns their shadows into the ground. By the time the heroes have plunged into the Void themselves, they are reliving their worst memories. They grow increasingly surreal, such as when Yelena finds herself unable to escape her most shameful recollection. To the point that the scenery comes to life and holds her there. These moments are well-done and mildly creepy too, suggesting that Schreier was probably more at home crafting these scenes than the explosions and shoot-outs.
Say what you will about Marvel Studios but they are usually good at casting their films. “Thunderbolts*” has a lovable cast, built-up over the course of the previous installments, and lets them mostly bounce off each other in amusing ways. Florence Pugh manages to bring a pathos and patheticness to Yelena, while never having us doubt her abilities as a competent warrior. David Harbour's goofball father act is expanded on from “Black Widow,” being a little more personable and a little less silly while still utilizing the actor's avuncular charm. Sebastian Stan becomes a likeably dead-pan straight man to the antics around him, approaching most of what happens with resigned shock and a lack of surprise. Wyatt Russell walks a fine line with John Walker, the U.S. Agent being both an asshole and a broken person that slowly wins the audience over. Lewis Pullman – that's Bill's son, by the way – proves surprisingly likable and relatable as Bob, his flaws all too human. The only member of the Thunderbolts that feels shortened is Hannah john-Kamen as Ghost. She's mostly merely there, getting a handful of moments to herself without being allowed too many chances to shine on her own.
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