Marvel hasn’t been having a good run ever since Eternals came out, but I would argue that Thunderbolts* is one of the best movies in Phase 4 and 5.

Now, if you don’t want to know anything about Thunderbolts*, this review will have spoilers. So if you haven’t watched the movie, go watch it, or don’t, it’s up to you.

Thunderbolts* is about a group of Marvel characters, including John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Yelena (Florence Pugh), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who are seen as “delinquents,” and they all work for President Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Whatever Valentina had them doing was illegal and could turn her into federal prison, so she planned to destroy her evidence by burning them.

These characters get locked up in a vault, and in this vault, they meet Bob (Lewis Pullman), a person who signed up to do a medical experiment and was supposedly dead. Bob doesn’t remember anything and he told the group that he blacks out when his mental state gets really bad.

I absolutely loved the mental health representation in this movie, it explores exactly what it is like to have depression and be very lonely. The main villain in this movie is called “The Void” and it is exactly as it sounds, a void that consumes you with all of your bad memories and expierences.

Whoever wrote the script for this movie understood perfectly what it is like to struggle with mental health. Depression is a void that can consume you, and the character, The Void, represents exactly that.

Bob has been dealing with his depression for his whole life and he thinks that he makes things worse for everyone, even though he doesn’t. I love how he is portrayed during the entire movie, his character is exactly what happens when someone lets their depression consume them, they rely on drugs and near-death experiences to feel something.

The Thunderbolts* found family element is also the best one in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The Thunderbolts* character’s connection is not forced at all and you can feel it being formed throughout the movie. It was like watching Avengers for the first time, the best feeling in the world where you were just a part of the family and connected with them from the start.

Sometimes it makes me emotional to think about this movie because it takes me back to when I was a kid watching The Avengers for the first time, and I never thought that I would have that feeling again until I watched Thunderbolts*.

Overall, Thunderbolts* has quickly become one of my favorite movies and I would highly recommend especially if you stopped watching the MCU after Endgame.