Thunderbolts*: 'When do you get to do a Marvel movie that tackles such deep themes?'

Sometimes, heroes have to confront the darkest corners of their pasts, of their minds, to unlock their true potential. For the band of misfits assembled in Thunderbolts*, the latest instalment in the Marvel cinematic franchise, this is especially true.

Make no mistake: Thunderbolts* is still an epic, big-screen adventure, with impressive stunts, awesome fight sequences, and imaginative scene-setting. But at its heart is something deeper, something darker, as the unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker — come together to face the threat of a misunderstood young man with a mind shrouded in shadow.

Leading the new addition to the MCU is Florence Pugh, returning as Yelena Belova — a meticulously-trained Black Widow assassin. When we meet Yelena this time around, she’s feeling directionless, lost, and fatally dissatisfied with her life of fighting and killing.

“I was very grateful that the intention... was to actually show the truth of the character... what maybe someone is feeling after all of the trauma that happened to her,” says Little Women and Oppenheimer star Pugh, 29.

“She’s incredibly strong, (but) she’s also just so desperate to have a sense of community...”

“Picking up where we left off,” she adds, referring to the traumatic events her character suffered including the death of her adoptive sister Natasha Romanoff in Avengers: Endgame, “we were able to actually have an argument between a dad and a daughter, but they both get to say to each other: ‘You messed up’. ‘Well, you messed up too’.

“Being able to grow with the character in a real way — I was just very impressed that we were allowed to do it. And we were also allowed to show someone that isn’t well, and is obviously not well, and doesn’t know how to cope...

“I think it’s just a very, very impressive thing to see in a Marvel movie that is going to be seen by plenty of people, a message that we all need to constantly learn from and see, that we all need to be there for each other.”

This is a sentiment that the film’s director, Jake Schreier - whose previous works include 2015’s Paper Towns and 2023 Netflix series Beef — agrees with. His direction balances the darkness of mental ill-health with humour and lightness, showing the dualities many feel, particularly in the current socio-political climate.

“Everyone can, to some degree, admit that these are things we all struggle with, and they don’t prevent us from having fun or laughing or there being humour in the world amidst all of the darkness that you feel as well,” says the filmmaker.

“So the hope is that it just feels kind of honest to the moment that we’re in...”

The aforementioned misunderstood young man at the heart of Thunderbolts* is Bob, played by Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman. It’s a little way into the film that we fully understand who Bob is, the extent of his power, and the dark forces that compel it — but it’s the team’s empathy and support for the trauma ruminating in Bob’s mind that grants him absolution.

Pullman says that the film’s exploration of the power of empathy and compassion was a refreshing element of the story.

“I think it was a fine line that we had to toe. I think we all worked pretty hard on making sure that we were being sensitive to the subjects that we were exploring while also trying to do justice to how it looks in reality,” says Pullman, 32, son of actor Bill Pullman.

“And I think what was so cool about using a platform like this in order to explore them is like, these are like the misfits of misfits. They’re the underdogs, and so they’re not going to use the right terminology, and they’re going to mess up.

“I think that’s a beautiful part about learning about all this... we should be forgiving of ourselves for saying the wrong thing and just trying to talk about it more. I think the more that you talk about it, the better it is.

“I mean, when do you get to do a Marvel movie that tackles such deep themes?”

All that being said, this is still a Marvel film. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s action-packed and it’s thrilling, and the calibre of actors in the cast —which includes returning star Sebastian Stan, Night Swim star Wyatt Russell, Stranger Things’ David Harbour, and decorated veteran TV actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus - allows the deft balancing act between gloom and humour.

For example, David Harbour’s reprisal of the role of Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, father figure to Yelena, perfectly toes the line between sincerity and comic relief.

“It’s fun to have Alexei — he’s a deranged guy,” says Harbour, 50, who plays Jim Hopper in hit Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things.

“It’s not like he’s trying to tell jokes. He’s just, like, out of his mind. He’s a narcissist, he’s desperate. He needs validation, he needs connection, he needs purpose, and he’s unmasked. He’s not cool enough to hide it like everyone else is. And so a lot of the comedy comes from character stuff.

“The great thing about this arc of my guy is he gets to play all these wonderfully comedic moments, but he also has a lot of very heartfelt stuff too.”

“These characters are grounded in reality...” agrees Wyatt Russell, 38, returning to the MCU as enhanced super soldier John Walker, who was chosen by the US government to become Steve Rogers’s successor as Captain America before receiving an other than honourable discharge in miniseries The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.

“And I think that the actuality of the people and their feelings and their problems (is) played in a very real way — not without the humour, and not without the the fun of being a superhero character and having all the things that come with that - just really carrying with you baggage, like, real baggage that all of these people are carrying. And now you’ve put all of that baggage together.

“And when you put tough baggage together, or a lot of it, with people who can do great things, if they work together — that can be a very powerful, strong team.

And of course, that doesn’t come without the fracturing and all the problems that arise.

“But when they work together, they can be the best, strongest team, which we are.”

Thunderbolts* is in cinemas now.