Thunderbolts Features The Darkest Moment In The Entire MCU

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for “Thunderbolts*.”

I know, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Any time a new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie releases, we have to go through a whole song and dance about how this one finally delivers something we’ve never actually seen in the franchise before. And then the next one comes out and we say all the same things about it all over again, as if we have the collective memory of a goldfish. It’s an endless cycle of hyperbole and hysteria, driven by fans and (admittedly) critics alike, and it’s a trend that already felt played out 10 Marvel movies ago.

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“Thunderbolts*” is releasing during an awfully unique moment in the property’s history, however, when the spell has finally been broken and we’ve all come around to the idea that Marvel actually has to earn our praise these days. But, against all odds, this underdog team-up movie doesn’t just feel like one of the best and most complete films from this series in quite some time (as many early reactions painted the film). It also goes to some deeper and darker places than many of us may have ever expected. That’s precisely why, for my money, “Thunderbolts*” features perhaps the darkest single moment of any MCU movie. Yes, I know there’s a few competing lines of thought that would seem to dispute this. For one thing, that’s precisely the kind of statement about a family-friendly PG-13 blockbuster that would (rightfully) deserve a response involving that SpongeBob roller coaster meme. For another, didn’t we already see half the universe literally snapped out of existence in “Avengers: Infinity War”?

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It’s fair to wonder what could possibly make “Thunderbolts*” worthy of a title like that. Well, one particular scene in the final act carefully plays out like another standard superhero moment … right up until the second things go horribly wrong. It’s shocking, demoralizing, and certainly a gut-punch — and the MCU’s darkest moment yet.

For a movie all about overcoming our biggest obstacles to become who we’re meant to be, “Thunderbolts*” certainly knows to twist the knife when it needs to. Although Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova fills the traditional leading role of this ensemble film, it’s actually Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) who takes on one of the story’s most poignant arcs. Typically depicted as a deadbeat dad to this point in the franchise, the “Black Widow” character begins “Thunderbolts*” in a similarly pathetic place when his adopted daughter Yelena pays him a visit for the first time in about a year early on. Finally motivated to become a part of her life again, Alexei spends much of the plot on the outskirts … that is, until he’s suddenly faced with his biggest redemptive moment yet.

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Late in “Thunderbolts*,” after Lewis Pullman’s Bob/The Sentry has transformed into the villainous Void, the long-forgotten Red Guardian finds himself in the thick of the action and faced with the most crucial of choices: Run and hide to save his own skin, or put his life on the line to rescue those in danger. He chooses the path of genuine heroism and, like the original Avengers, confirms his status as a true-blue Thunderbolt while saving lives in a war-torn New York City. When he spots a little girl about to be crushed by falling debris and heroically takes the hit himself in order to shield her from harm, it’s a perfect button to his emotional arc — until the unseen Void hovering high above abruptly and mercilessly turns her (and everyone else in the vicinity) into a shadow with the flick of a wrist, promptly undoing all the good our heroes accomplished and leaving us audience members with a pit in the stomach.

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Despite well over a decade of Marvel and its rivals trying to recapture the magic of 2012’s “The Avengers,” the real secret sauce was hiding in plain sight all along — and “Thunderbolts*,” of all movies, is the one that figured it out. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and the one-two punch of “Infinity War”https://www.slashfilm.com/”Endgame” attempted to do the standard sequel thing of going bigger and louder than what we received before, though only to varying degrees of success (creatively speaking, at least). Director Jake Schreier’s team-up flick is attempting something very different by focusing on a group of antihero nobodies, to be fair, but the results speak for themselves. Anecdotally, the scene where the little girl gets shadowed out of existence elicited actual gasps from the audience I was in attendance with, and it’s very obvious why it felt so effective.

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Just when we might’ve expected “Thunderbolts*” to fully expand the scope of the story, it instead chooses to zero in on very specific instances of civilians being put in mortal danger … and those moments hit much harder, as a result. Granted, it’s fairly obvious why watching hordes of VFX crowds being put in some vague sense of danger can quickly feel mind-numbingly exhausting, compared to seeing a character we know and love failing to help this one specific person. But the sheer simplicity of the approach to this moment in “Thunderbolts*” is precisely what makes it all the more refreshing. It’s narratively and dramatically clear why Red Guardian feels the need to atone for his past shortcomings by saving others, just as it’s apparent why Bob lashes out the way he does as the Void. And when the emotional journeys of both characters converge on this one innocent life, well, it’s no wonder why it feels so devastating in the moment … or why it’s such a much-needed lift when she’s brought back along with the rest of the casualties.

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Hopefully, this will be a lesson for wherever the MCU goes next. All signs point to “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” taking a similarly fine-tuned approach, but all bets are off once the crossover extravaganza “Avengers: Doomsday” finally arrives. Here’s hoping Kevin Feige remembers what made “Thunderbolts*” such a breath of fresh air.

“Thunderbolts*” is now playing in theaters.