Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) changed how comic book heroes were portrayed on the big screen when Robert Downey jnr was cast in the role of Iron Man in 2008. Rather than the dorky, villainous, one-dimensional characters of early comic book heroes, here was an Oscar winner having fun and bringing depth to someone in a spandex onesie.
The success of that film expanded to 35 movies to date — including a spin-off television series. At the heart of the franchise that asks more of the superhero is Kevin Feige, producer and president of Marvel Studios, who's manifesting action stories with characters to care about.
The latest addition to the MCU is Thunderbolts. Leveraging the “this isn’t your dad’s action hero” theme, Thunderbolts taps into the psyche of the antihero that's been cultivated in Ant-Man, The Wasp, Black Widow and the Disney series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, women are thankfully no longer just window dressing: they encompass both heroes and villains. Set against action that includes a tribute to Terminator 2, Thunderbolts delves into mental illness, trust and morally grey heroes.
Florence Pugh is the lead, scrappy and sexy as The Black Widow, Yelena, on a personal journey of discovery. Emotionally broken, she's one of several antiheroes who's forced to trust mortal enemies when they're locked in an OXE vault intended to be their death trap.
“The idea of exploring characters who are experiencing mental health conditions was exciting,” notes Pugh, who's dressed in stack-heeled boots, a mini and leather jacket for the interview at the LA press conference, her blonde hair side-swept and short.
“When you think of superhero films, you imagine characters with incredible powers who do amazing things,” notes the diminutive Pugh — she's 1.6m. “It’s brave that Marvel has dipped their toe into exploring the inner workings of characters and seeing what they must go through to be on point constantly. What does that pressure do to their brains? How does it affect them internally? At the end of the day they're just people who happen to have superpowers,” she says.
“The Thunderbolts are characters the world sees as villains, who're given an opportunity to act like heroes,” explains the actress who first got noticed in Little Women. “How that allows them to evolve is interesting. When I read the script, I was surprised. It took Yelena down a road I wasn’t expecting.”
In the opening sequence, a disgruntled Yelena contemplates ending her run as a superhero. “She's at a loss and doesn't have reason to be there any more. She's lost her sister, her family and her relationship with her father has dwindled to nothing. I was grateful to have a script that represented what trauma feels like. She's strong, but also desperate to have a sense of community and family — real or not. That's where we met her in Black Widow (with Scarlett Johansson). In Thunderbolts we were able to have an argument between a dad (David Harbour) and a daughter, where both get to say, 'you messed up'. I've been able to grow with the character over the years. I was impressed; the character was allowed to go through difficulties and I could portray someone who's obviously not well and doesn't know how to cope.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine in Seinfeld) portrays Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the executive-villain who's perfect for our times. “Valentina has her operatives do shady, black-ops work to help her rise to power. As she consolidates power and steps into a public role, she’s determined to destroy evidence of her shadowy past,” says Louis-Dryefus. “I like that Valentina is a Teflon-like political character who'll step over her own mother to get what she wants.”
A team of her former operatives are lured to an OXE vault, to destroy each other. Instead they find someone manufactured to be invincible — the movie hinges on whether this new character goes to the dark side or bonds with the antiheroes to become a new super force for good.
Director Jake Schreier (Beef, Robot and Frank) had to decide which Marvel characters would become the Thunderbolts. “They recommend themselves in terms of who were the most emotionally damaged but rejecting of the idea of a hero.” He pulled in fan favourite, The Winter Soldier — Sebastian Stan’s 10th time in the role as US agent Wyatt Russell — the real-life son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell and a former pro-ice hockey player; Alexei Shostakov/The Red Dragon (David Harbour); and newcomer Lewis Pullman as Robert Reynolds/Sentry, who's self-damaged thanks to the voices in his head. “Balancing Sentry's comedy with his dark inner voice was enjoyable”, notes Pullman. “The terrible voice in his head is actually relatable, sadly, and a good reminder to us all that the negative thoughts we have can get very loud if we don’t take care of ourselves.”
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