The MCU’s Existential Crisis
The characters in Thunderbolts are painfully aware they’re not the main event. They’re living in the aftermath of something greater. Yelena is not Black Widow. John Walker is not Captain America. Red Guardian is a joke version of both. Ghost isn’t Iron Man, despite the fancy high-tech suit and Bucky is desperately trying to move on. Oh, And Valentina Allegra de Fontaine? She’s trying way too hard to be Nick Fury, and fooling absolutely no one.
This is Marvel putting its own insecurities onscreen, and for once, it’s not pretending otherwise.
This isn’t just a plot. It’s a confession. A cinematic sigh. A moment of reflection that says: We know we’re not what we used to be. But maybe there’s still something worth exploring… in the void.
The Plot Mirrors the Point
The Thunderbolts are sent on a mission by Valentina, only to discover it’s a setup. They’re not meant to succeed. They’re meant to disappear. These aren’t heroes, they’re liabilities. Loose ends. The leftovers of a once-great feast. And Marvel is trying to sweep them under the rug.
And yet, buried there in the MCU’s cinematic junk drawer, they stumble onto something strange, wonderful… and terrifying: Bob. A broken man with godlike power, and something monstrous whispering inside him. Bob isn’t just a character - he’s the MCU’s uncertain future. He could be the next big thing. Or he could be the end of everything.
It’s poetic, really.
Valentina is basically Kevin Feige, strutting out onto the stage and saying, “Look! A new Avenger! Isn’t he awesome?” But very quickly, we realize this isn’t another success story. This isn’t a Phase One reboot. It’s a deepening black hole, pulling everything that once worked into it. And our underdog team of cinematic leftovers? They’re barely hanging on.
Because that’s the movie’s real question: What do you do when you know you’ll never be as good as the ones who came before you?
You try anyway.
Not the New Avengers - And That’s the Point
By the end, Valentina rebrands the Thunderbolts as “The New Avengers” in a shameless PR stunt. It’s hollow. It’s cynical. It’s Marvel literally putting the words in someone’s mouth just so we all understand the joke.
But then there’s a moment. Quiet, sharp, where Yelena leans over to Valentina and says: “We own you now.”
That’s the turn. That’s where Thunderbolts stops apologizing for not being The Avengers and starts being something else entirely.
This isn’t a story about saving the world. It’s a story about surviving it. About misfits trying to carve out meaning in a cinematic universe that already had its grand finale. It’s about standing in the silence left by Endgame - and jumping headfirst into it anyway. That's why they don't defeat the void, they just allow him to go back to being Bob. He could become the Sentry if they needed him one day. But for now - Just Bob. Bob is enough.
The Void as a Mirror
See, the Sentry isn’t just a superpowered wildcard - he’s a walking metaphor for where the MCU is right now. He’s pure potential wrapped in existential dread. He’s terrifying not because he’s evil, but because he doesn’t know who he is. And when the Void inside him finally bursts free and begins consuming Manhattan, it doesn’t just threaten the city.
It threatens the universe.
Because that’s the real fear, isn’t it? That the MCU has run out of things to say. That all the cameos, all the multiverses, all the post-credit scenes have become noise without meaning.
But Thunderbolts doesn’t try to recapture the old magic.
It just sits with the emptiness. It gives it a hug.
And somehow… that’s what makes it magic again.
Marvel’s Most Honest Movie?
Is Thunderbolts flashy? Sure. Funny? Sometimes. Chaotic? Definitely. But beneath the surface, it might be the MCU’s most honest movie yet.
It looks at the audience and says, “Yeah, we peaked. We know. But we’re still here. So now what?”
And maybe what comes after the peak isn’t just decline. Maybe it’s reinvention. Maybe it’s humility. Maybe it’s a few burnouts in a busted limousine trying to stop the world from ending. Not because they’re the best, but because they’re the only ones left who still care. That's you - You can choose to stay along for the ride or you can jump out the limousine.
That's why there is no epic 360 shot of The Thunderbolts coming together to save the MCU - because they didn't. They just hugged the void, admitted they need help, admitted they are not ok, and promised to get back up and try again - Because that's what heroes do!
