Thunderbolts (2025): Pugh and Pullman Save the MCU

The MCU has been struggling. Everyone knows it. Eternals bombed. Quantumania was a mess. Phase Five felt like it lost its direction entirely.

This is not a perfect film. But it is an honest one. It takes a group of broken people, puts them in an impossible situation, and asks them to figure out who they want to be. Florence Pugh carries it with real emotional weight. Lewis Pullman steals every scene he is in. The result is the best MCU film since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Thunderbolts scored 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.1 on IMDB, and earned $382 million worldwide. Critics called it a return to form. Audiences gave it an A minus CinemaScore. Both groups were right.

Thunderbolts (2025) Movie Details

Thunderbolts 2025: What Does the Asterisk Mean

The official title of the film is Thunderbolts followed by an asterisk. That asterisk has a meaning. At the end of the film, the team gets rebranded as the New Avengers. The title then changes on screen to reflect that.

The asterisk was a marketing mystery throughout the promotional campaign. Marvel used it deliberately to build curiosity. The film’s post-credits scene connects directly to Avengers: Doomsday and the arrival of the Fantastic Four.

For this review, the film is referred to as Thunderbolts throughout for clarity.

Thunderbolts 2025 Story and Plot Explained

CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has spent years recruiting broken people to do her dirty work. Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker are all in her books.

She sets a trap. She sends all of them to the same location to kill each other. The plan is to eliminate everyone who knows about her operation and clean up the loose ends in one move.

They survive. They figure out what she did. And now they have to stop her before she unleashes something far worse on New York City.

That something is Bob. A young man with amnesia who lives in Valentina’s tower. He has no memory of who he is. But he has unimaginable power locked inside him. Valentina wants to use him as a weapon. Bob has no idea what he is capable of. And when that power escapes its container, the result is something Thunderbolts calls the Void.

The film is really about that question. What do you do when the darkest part of yourself breaks free? And who do you need around you to find your way back

Thunderbolts 2025 Review: What the Film Gets Right

• Florence Pugh owns this film. Yelena Belova is in her lowest place emotionally. She is grieving. She is isolated. She cannot see a reason to keep going. Pugh plays that with honesty and no self-pity. She makes every scene better than it would be without her.
• Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds is the best MCU debut since Chadwick Boseman walked into Civil War. He plays amnesia, confusion, terror, and tenderness simultaneously. His portrayal of a man slowly realising what he contains is the emotional engine of the entire film.
• The mental health theme works because the film takes it seriously. This is not superhero depression as a costume. It is real people struggling with emptiness, guilt, and trauma. The film treats that with genuine care.
• David Harbour as Red Guardian provides the film’s funniest and most unexpectedly tender moments. His relationship with Yelena grounds the whole story in something human.
• Director Jake Schreier keeps the action grounded and the stakes personal. The third act does not go to space or level a city. It goes somewhere far more interesting and far harder to film.
• Son Lux’s score sets the tone from the first frame. It sounds like anxiety and longing in equal measure. Recorded at Abbey Road, it gives the film a musical identity unlike any previous MCU entry.

Thunderbolts 2025: Where the Film Falls Short

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina does not land the way she should. The character should be terrifying. She is more frustrating than frightening. Some of her dialogue feels written for a different performance. The villain never quite reaches the menace the story needs.

Taskmaster, Ghost, and John Walker get very little to do. Three of the six team members serve mainly as bodies in the frame. Walker gets two moments. Ghost gets one. Taskmaster barely registers. That is a missed opportunity with three interesting characters already established in previous MCU films.

The film underperformed against its budget. It needed approximately $450 million to break even. It earned $382 million. That gap matters because it reflects a Marvel audience still not fully trusting the brand after several disappointing films. Thunderbolts deserved better numbers than it got.

Thunderbolts (2025) Full Cast

A large ensemble with very different amounts of screen time. The film belongs to Pugh and Pullman.

Where to Watch Thunderbolts (2025): Stream Online Now

You can stream Thunderbolts online on Disney Plus with a standard subscription. Watch it before Avengers: Doomsday releases later in 2026. The Thunderbolts team plays a key role in that film and this one sets them up directly.

Thunderbolts 2025: Do You Need to Watch Other MCU Films First

You get more out of Thunderbolts if you know where these characters came from. Here is what helps.

If you have not seen any of these, Thunderbolts still works as a standalone film. The story explains enough. But the emotional beats hit harder with the context.

Thunderbolts 2025 Review Score Breakdown

Scored across six categories based on the full viewing experience.

An 8 out of 10 places Thunderbolts among the MCU’s better films. The lead performances push it above what the script alone would earn. Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman are the reason this film works.

Thunderbolts 2025: What Critics Are Saying

The film holds 88% on Rotten Tomatoes from 382 critics and a 68 on Metacritic. Here is how five major publications assessed it.

FAQs

These are the most searched questions about Thunderbolts (2025), answered directly.

What is Thunderbolts (2025) about

A group of MCU antiheroes gets trapped by their CIA handler Valentina and forced to work together. They discover she plans to use a powerful and unstable young man named Bob as a weapon. The film follows their mission to stop her and save him before the darkness inside Bob destroys New York.

Who is the Sentry in Thunderbolts

Lewis Pullman plays Bob Reynolds, a young man with no memory who carries immense power. He becomes Sentry, one of the most powerful beings in the MCU. His dark side is called the Void. Controlling which one surfaces is the emotional centre of the film.

Does Thunderbolts connect to Avengers: Doomsday

Yes. The post-credits scene connects directly to Avengers: Doomsday. The Thunderbolts team becomes the New Avengers at the end of the film and they appear in Doomsday. Watch Thunderbolts before Doomsday releases.

Where can you stream Thunderbolts (2025)?

Thunderbolts streams on Disney Plus with a standard subscription. You can also rent or buy it online on Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play Movies.

What does the asterisk in Thunderbolts mean

The asterisk in the title points to the team’s new name revealed at the end of the film. The Thunderbolts become the New Avengers. The title changes on screen during the end credits to reflect that.

Are Thunderbolts suitable for children

It carries a PG-13 rating. The film deals with themes of depression and mental health in a serious way. It is fine for teenagers but some younger children may find the emotional content and the Void sequences intense.

Is Thunderbolts better than recent MCU films

Most critics and audiences think so. It scored higher on Rotten Tomatoes than Captain America: Brave New World, Eternals, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Many fans called it the best MCU film since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Will Thunderbolts characters return in future MCU films

Yes. The team appears in Avengers: Doomsday as the New Avengers. Florence Pugh has confirmed Yelena Belova will continue in the MCU. Lewis Pullman’s Sentry is expected to play a significant role in upcoming Phase Six films.

Final Verdict

The MCU needed a win. Thunderbolts gives them one.

It is not Iron Man or The Winter Soldier. It does not reach those heights. But it tries for something real. A story about people who have hurt others, hurt themselves, and are not sure if redemption is something they deserve. That is a harder story to tell than any alien invasion.

Florence Pugh makes you feel every moment of Yelena’s emptiness. Lewis Pullman makes you hold your breath every time Bob appears on screen. Together they carry a film that could have been a routine team-up into something that actually matters.

Stream it on Disney Plus tonight. Watch the post-credits scene. Then bookmark Avengers: Doomsday for December 2026. This team is just getting started.