The Marvel Cinematic Universe has spanned almost two decades and every entry is varied in Toon. Some went for the simple superhero story, while others used the universe as a background to talk about bigger problems. Captain America of 2014: The Winter Soldier is a film that did that, making it almost certainly one of the reasons that Thunderbolts* exists.
As a vehicle for a spy/spy thriller over the length that the government can go to ‘protect’ the citizens they find worthwhile, the winter soldier has remained high on the list of best Marvel films, and it is not difficult to see why -it is all from the type of complex characters that lead the story.
A few other MCU films have tried this, but Thunderbolts* is the first to do it successfully. It is fun, active and certainly enough to saturate a superhero itching, even in this saturated climate. Under the surface, however, it is much more than that. The two main characters in Thunderbolts* are not only beloved anti -heroes. Instead, they investigate the themes of sadness, depression and how we deal with trauma in large details.
Disney / Marvel Studios
However, that does not mean that Wandavision and Doctor Strange and the multiverse of madness have not done these things: they do. But they did this in a very formual superhero way, which is not a bad thing! It was good for those who are fans of the universe, but it may not have appealed to the masses such as the winter soldier.
Marvel works best if it tries new things. Thor: Ragnarok, for example, did a complete 180 pivot of the more gloomy-buts-occasional-occisional-funny Toon of the first two Thor episodes, and did this with success. Thunderbolts* certainly felt like it was a shot-in-the-dark film of a studio that pretended not to falter from a series of lukewarm receptions. It’s not feeling As if it will stand out, but it does. The heart is certainly one of those reasons.
Small spoilers for Thunderbolts* below
The film starts with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) who stands on the edge of a cliff and talks about how it was difficult to find joy and fulfillment in her life. While we meet our other anti -heroes, it is clear that she is not the only one with demons and problems with emptiness.
She is a murderer, but maybe she’s tired of being. Much of the marketing for Thunderbolts* leaned on how this was an unlikely group that should not work theoretically. But when the common denominator has the feeling that you are on the edge of society, things come together much faster than you realize.
The winter soldier is about displacement, but physically
In the winter soldier we see Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) struggling to find a place in the modern world where it fits. He tries new things, listens to suggestions from others, but he is still a man who is not in place with nothing to bind him to this modern version of New York. He is looking for a glimpse of what he knew seventy -seven years ago without benefit … until he finally sees the spirit of his long -thinked best friend, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).
Although never explicitly mentioned (just like it is not in Thunderbolts*), it would not be a piece of being depressed, because he continues to deal with anxious with decades. And with how depression was treated in Steve’s time, it is not surprising that he may not know what he is dealing with. We see a lot of the same in Thunderbolts*.
Just like the winter soldier, it is a comment that happens to be super heroes. It is also interesting to think about Bucky’s place in both. Thunderbolts* enables us to see him as someone far enough away from the events of ten years ago that it is almost a shock to remember that he was the winter soldier.
At that time he had to deal with trauma, although it was in intermittent flashes because of his programming. However, he has never really forgotten, and that is much clear by how hard he works as a senator to expose Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). It reflects Yelena’s desire to become more than a murderer and to work on rehabilitating that image.
As Bucky says later in the film, you can only run from your past for so long. You must eventually face it, otherwise you will not heal. We can remember the scene after the credits in the winter soldier of Bucky who does exactly that when he goes to the Captain America exhibition in the Smithsonian. It helped his memory to jog, yes, but it was also an exemplary representation of power on his part.
One of the best things that Thunderbolts* does is to refer to this problems depression, trauma, sadness- as a void. It’s a bit on the nose, certainly. But in this case it works, as everyone who has experienced all those things knows. Bucky is a good example of that, and I wish his story had been more a focus in a film like Thunderbolts*. He undoubtedly has one of the most damaged past outside of Yelena – and that could have been well related to hers.
The most important pick -up meal of this film is that you are not alone, and it goes to the extreme to show it. Steve had Sam and Natasha; The Thunderbolts* (and Bob [Lewis Pullman]) have each other. That’s what it’s all about.
