Summary
Thunderbolts*has been the most well-received of the upcoming projects slated for 2025 within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans have finally gotten a good look at the titular team and the curious predicament that converges their disparate interests with stellar new footage.
These concerns would subside for some whennew details onThunderbolts*emerged following a leaked trailerfrom San Diego Comic Con, and now the studio has finally released an official trailer for the upcoming film with all the information adn intrigue fans have been waiting for. Posted to the officialMarvel EntertainmentYouTube channel, the trailer opens with Flourence Pugh’s Yelena making a house call to David Harbour’s Red Guardian, opening up about a significant crisis of purpose that she’s been experiencing despite throwing herself into heer work. The trailer shows others beset by this same feeling, showing glimpses of this; Red Guardian’s squalid and sedentary apartment living, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker living in a suburban doldrums, and even Sebastian Stan’s Bucky navigating the government. Things start to take shape when Walker and Yelena find themselves going head-to-head in some secret facility before Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost and Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster join the fray and the antiheroes realize that someone wants them gone. The premise thus presented, the trailer finally gives fans the main players assembled, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine making an on-screen appearance and providing a voiceover line that sums up the group’s vibe perfectly.
We’re brought up with this belief that there are good guys and there are bad guys. But eventually, you come to realize that there are bad guys and there are worse guys. And nothing else.
The trailer does a great job of actually presenting the film’s main plot and the characters in a compelling way, but it also has a few other touches that are both interesting and important. The reveal of Lewis Pullman’s character Bob was a fleeting but important part of the trailer, with the seemingly timid and unsuspecting bystander getting caught up in the fighting and being shown to be bulletproof, all but confirming rumors that he’s actually the MCU’s Sentry, a character that is in many ways Marvel’s Superman. WhileSteven Yeun’s exit from the Sentry role was an unfortunate setback for the MCU, Pullman seems set to provide a solid performance of the complex character. Elsewhere, the general light MCU touch is present in the banter between the characters and moments like Bucky pulling his bionic arm out of a dishwasher.
Everything about theThunderboltstrailer seems to be just right, from the unique yellow Marvel Studios logo to the action sequences and the characters chosen for the ensemble. The trailer gives off the same grounded, intrigue-laden feel thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldwas finally able to get to shine through after extensive reshoots and releasing its own trailer, and that’s a credit to the project. There’s little else fans might want to see before the film releases in May followingBrave New World’sValentine’s Day date with moviegoers, but there are a ton of expectations surrounding the upcoming film. The most prominent of these that the trailer probably won’t answer is whether or notThunderboltswill be the sendoff for Bucky Barnes, as the Winter Soldier becomes more and more a symbol of Avengers past in need of something close to a happy ending.
While the trailer did the same things thatMarvel’s SDCC presentation did by not revealing the meaning behind the asterisks(and even taking the time to add it in with some fanfare in the post-roll title card), this trailer has already been received significantly well as indicated by a large number of likes on the upload as opposed to the negligible dislikes. While there’s still quite some time before the film hits theaters, and a lot can happen in that time, there’s no reason not to be optimistic aboutThunderbolts*being able to give fans the sort of positive experience that the core MCU franchise has been pining for since the second half of 2023.
Thunderbolts*is set for theatrical release in May 2025.
Thunderbolts*
Marvel’s Thunderbolts is a superhero movie based on the comic team of the same name. The movie acts as a part of the MCU’s fifth phase of films. The film sees the likes of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell, the Red Guardian, and more as an unlikely group of heroes and villains brought together to fight for good.
