• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Spoilers Thunderbolts* grade and discussion thread

How do you rate Thunderbolts*?


  • Total voters
    43
Endgame ended that part of the story. The MCU is a continuing Universe.

Did you stop watching Star Trek after Star Trek 6 too?

Generations turned me off to the franchise until Star Trek continues brought me back into the fold, so there is another reason I should have stopped at Star Trek 6.
 
So, back to the discussion of Thunderbolts*...
Overall I found the movie quite entertaining. I was just a bit miffed that they
brought back Taskmaster after four years just to get beertrucked in short order. :rolleyes:

Kor
That's probably my only real criticism against the film (putting aside my want for more shame rooms). Having read the details from behind the scenes to why that happened helps a little but it's still a damn pity Taskmaster was so unilaterally disposed of. Especially considering her connection with Yelena and the potential of bonding with her and Ava (as had been planned).
 
Thunderbolts* brought back my enthusiasm for MCU. Deadpool/Wolverine did a bit.
I've been going through my MCU film rankings and Thunderbolts* is in my top ten. And contrary to the general belief that post- Endgame has been lackluster, I also have No Way Home, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, and Wakanda Forever in the top ten, too.
 
You are ridiculous. Go back to the neutral zone and leave your garbage politics there.

Sir, this is the TrekBBS. Your Klan rally is down the road. ;)


it's still a damn pity Taskmaster was so unilaterally disposed of.

Counterpoint: in real life, people, even important people, die abrupt and meaningless deaths all the time, and it's not only okay, but, to a certain extent, it's commendable for fiction to recognize and reflect that. If every single named character only ever died in profound, thematically important ways, that would inevitably result in rote and bloated storytelling.

Take Nick Fury, for instance. Sure, it's nice that he survived the events of The Winter Soldier and was around to... talk to Tony Stark in a barn in Age of Ultron, stand silently at his funeral in Endgame, and pester Peter Parker (or so Peter thinks) in Far From Home. But, outside of Secret Invasion, he hasn't really done anything major since his death scare dramatically raised the stakes in The Winter Solder. Maybe it would have been better for the overall story had he indeed died at that point.

As for Taskmaster, that minor character was hardly Nick Fury, so I must emphatically disagree she should have gotten more screen time or nuance before being offed. A death was needed to establish tension, and her character was superfluous, so quickly eliminating her was absolutely the right storytelling call.
 
Last edited:
Counterpoint: in real life, people, even important people, die abrupt and meaningless deaths all the time, and it's not only okay, but, to a certain extent, it's commendable for fiction to recognize and reflect that. If every single named character only ever died in profound, thematically important ways, that would inevitably result in rote and bloated storytelling.

Take Nick Fury, for instance. Sure, it's nice that he survived the events of The Winter Soldier and was around to... talk to Tony Stark in a barn in Age of Ultron, stand silently at his funeral in Endgame, and pester Peter Parker (or so Peter thinks) in Far From Home. But, outside of Secret Invasion, he hasn't really done anything major since his death scare dramatically raised the stakes in The Winter Solder. Maybe it would have been better for the overall story had he indeed died at that point.

As for Taskmaster, that minor character was hardly Nick Fury, so I must emphatically agree she should have gotten more screen time or nuance before being offed. A death was needed to establish tension, and her character was superfluous, so quickly eliminating her was absolutely the right storytelling call.
I'm torn on this point. I'll grant you that it's good to raise the stakes and show the seriousness of certain threats and (to crib from myself) I get that the film wanted to demonstrate the influence of Val's machinations against the four of them at the beginning, but I feel that could've worked just as well as them nearly killing each other before they finally de-escalated.

Furthermore, there was a lot of potential in Taskmaster. Not just the character's comic history, but also in what the MCU established with the character. But more than anything I feel bad for Olga Kurylenko because she is a good actress (I enjoyed her not just in Quantum of Solace but also in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and The Death of Stalin) and she deserved better both in this film and in Black Widow.

As for your point about Nick Fury, I think the only misstep for him was Secret Invasion but I will concede the best use of the character post The Winter Soldier was in Captain Marvel...a prequel. Still, I enjoyed the more relaxed "fun Fury" in The Marvels.
 
Thunderbolts* worldwide earnings to date (5-22-2025): $331,705,238 against a $180 million dollar production budget and $100 million dollar marketing budget (according to Variety). Although the film has earned its production & marketing investment back, its actual profit beyond that is $51,705,238.
 
What's that? Actual Thunderbolts* content? And a new HISHE video? Crazzzzy!

The video does point out a pretty big problem with the New Avengers: They are all a bunch of killers. Why would the public suddenly accept them, even after they seemingly just saved the day.

...although...what does the public even know about what that team did to reverse the effects of the Void? One moment, they're nullified and presumingly dealing with their respective shame rooms, the next moment, they're back to wherever they were the moment before, none the wiser.

For the first part, nobody knows that they have been killers--although I can't remember if Ghost actually killed anybody.
For the second, the public believes it because Val sold them on it. And the fact that she had the press conference all set up means that she was probably going to introduce The Sentry to the public so people were expecting some announcement on super-heroes.
 
Last edited:
Why is it an issue that the members of the TB actually killed anyone?
Beginning with Iron Man and through the Avengers movie every single Avenger has killed somebody or the other.
 
Why is it an issue that the members of the TB actually killed anyone?
Beginning with Iron Man and through the Avengers movie every single Avenger has killed somebody or the other.

I actually agree with that--I'm guessing the public doesn't know about Bucky's past. The others killed in the line of duty or because they were forced to. Yelena was an assassin in a previous life but so was Natasha.
 
For the first part, nobody knows that they have been killers--although I can't remember if Ghost actually killed anybody.
For the second, the public believes it because Val sold them on it. And the fact that she had the press conference all set up means that she was probably going to introduce The Sentry to the public so people were expecting some announcement on super-heroes.
Why is it an issue that the members of the TB actually killed anyone?
Beginning with Iron Man and through the Avengers movie every single Avenger has killed somebody or the other.
I actually agree with that--I'm guessing the public doesn't know about Bucky's past. The others killed in the line of duty or because they were forced to. Yelena was an assassin in a previous life but so was Natasha.
You know what, fair. I failed my own premise. I looked at public perception for one aspect but not the other.
 
I actually agree with that--I'm guessing the public doesn't know about Bucky's past. The others killed in the line of duty or because they were forced to. Yelena was an assassin in a previous life but so was Natasha.
In-universe a lot of things don't really make sense.
Trauma of losing half the population then getting them back, only to have a big giant fossil rising from the ocean, people would be in constant fear for their lives.
But people have time to care about which superhero killed or not.
 
It's worth keeping in mind most the characters kills and other questionable actions were all parts of black ops operations, so the public probably doesn't even know about most of what they've done. The only one who's bad deeds were definitely public was John, but who knows what kind of story Valentina could have made up to convince people to forgive or excuse what he did.
There was a worldwide alert for Bucky with his face and history all over the newspapers in Civil War.
But that must not be too much of an issue for people since he was elected to Congress. He does at least have the excuse that he was brainwashed at the time.
The spin would be that this new team consists of Steve Rogers best friend and Natasha Romanov's sister.
Yeah, I could see that working for people.
I hate the 24th century, so I wish I had. I never finished DS9 and I didn't even get through one season of Voyager. TNG is garbage after season 3. Lol.
Wow, I literally feel the complete opposite in everyway. I love the 24th Century, DS9 is my absolute favorite series, I like Voyager quite a bit, and except for a few good episodes, I prefer the later seasons of TNG. But then again, now that I noticed your avatar, I guess I should realize that there is absolutely no way we could ever agree on anything.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top