Thunderbolts* · reception & legacy
2025 · Jake Schreier
How Thunderbolts* has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Landed in May 2025 to the best MCU reviews in years and an instant 'Marvel is back' narrative — then quietly underperformed at the box office, so it's already remembered as the beloved one that audiences skipped.
What's debated
The endless fight: is it genuinely a great film about depression, or just a decent movie graded on the steep curve of late-phase Marvel fatigue?
Its footprint
The asterisk in the title fuelled months of what-does-it-mean discourse before the post-release marquee switch became a marketing legend, and the indie-styled cast trailer got it memed as 'the A24 Avengers.'
Where it stands
The rare late-MCU entry Letterboxd actually embraces — a Florence Pugh vehicle first, a franchise obligation second.
Named by the director
Influences Jake Schreier has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.
- Reservoir Dogs (1992) — Schreier put it on his reference reel for the thrown-together-criminals team dynamic.
- Ronin (1998) — Cited by Schreier as a touchstone for the film's grounded, tactile action.
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) — Named by Schreier among his action references for the film.
- Toy Story 3 (2010) — Schreier cited its hand-holding furnace scene as the model for making audiences care about an ensemble facing death together.