Marvel and DC’s rivalry often reveals itself in the brands' dueling versions of similar ideas. In 1987, DC relaunched a minor team of soldiers called the Suicide Squad and recast their ranks with supervillains. A decade later, Marvel formed The Thunderbolts. Their first appearance involved antagonists disguising themselves as heroes, but following iterations saw reformed evildoers attempting to use their gifts for good. LikeSuicide Squadtried and failed to do,Thunderboltscan borrow from Hollywood’s history of violent “men on a mission” movies.
Thunderboltscomes across as a minor effortin Marvel’s grand cosmology. It’s a consequence of the brand launching more projects than any reasonable person could keep up with.Thunderboltscould get lost in the shuffle, but the recent chaos in the studio might give projects room to breathe.Thunderboltsneeds to feel appreciably different from the Marvel model to matter.
Thunderboltsis about a team of misfits
The MCU’sThunderboltslineup differs slightly from the usual comic book cast. They’ve got Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, U. S. Agent, Taskmaster, Red Guardian, Ghost, and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as a handler. The team is notably lacking in superpowers. Ghost is the most unorthodox member.Taskmaster has a versionof her comic counterpart’s mimicry, though only used to replicate skills one could learn through years of practice. Almost everyone else imbibed some iteration of the super soldier serum, with Bucky’s vibranium arm as a special add-on. They’re all just spies, soldiers, or assassins in fancy outfits.
The powers are only part of the equation. Almost all of these characters come from a military background. Taskmaster, Belova, and Red Guardian are Soviet agents.Bucky was an army manbefore H.Y.D.R.A. picked him up. John Walker and de Fontaine are still linked to the American intelligence industrial complex. Even Ghost was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. These aren’t supervillains. They are enemy combatants on a black ops mission. That’s why Marvel can’t makeThunderboltslike a superhero movie.
Thunderboltscan take inspiration from classic movies
Old Hollywood coined a term to describe the gritty action movie subgenreThunderboltsshould fall into. They were called “Men on a Mission” movies. In sharp contrast to heroic war movies depicting impossibly valiant soldiers serving their countries, Men on a Mission movies send haunted, violent, and morally questionable warriors to almost certain death for the good of others. Many of their tropes follow naturallyfrom Spaghetti Western films. J. Lee Thompson directed one of the earliest examples in 1961’sThe Guns of the Navarone. Beloved early examples includeThe Great EscapeandKelly’s Heroes. The genre evolved over the decades fromThe Inglorious BastardstoInglourious Basterds. Though most Men on a Mission movies occur in the Old West or World War II, the options are limitless.
Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller
Release Date
June 09, 2025
The Dirty Dozenfollows Lee Marvin as OSS Officer Major John Reisman, who is tasked with training 12 of the Army’s worst convicts for a suicide mission. He must train, excite, and arm these violent men before following them deep into Nazi-occupied France with the promise of either a brutal death or a pardon at the end of the quest. The film was celebrated for its combat scenes, cast of likable characters, and grimly amoral atmosphere. Narratively,The Dirty Dozenis extremely straightforward. The pleasure comes from watching terrible people cynically fight and die as tiny cogs in a massive machine.Thunderboltscan learn its priorities fromThe Dirty Dozen. A needlessly complex narrative will detract from the draw. Chemistry and action need to come first.
June 16, 2025
One of the finest Westerns of the era follows seven gunslingers defending a poor Mexican village from bandits. Adapted fromAkira Kurosawa’sSeven Samurai, Sturges' epic introduces its heroes with a bang. The strongest element ofThe Magnificent Sevenis its human drama. The action works, but the crossing motivations of the gunslingers keep things engaging. Though they’re complicated figures, these cowboys are near the moral peak of the era.Thunderboltshas to find chemistry among the assembled villains. Thesecharacters were imagined elsewhere, but as they’re reintroduced for their team-up vehicle, they must find compelling ways to clash and come together.
Thunderboltscould reinvent the Marvel formulawith a new tone, moral ambiguity, unique presentation, and a new mandate for action set pieces. The classic Men on a Mission movies could be a guide demonstrating everything they’ll need to make something groundbreaking. As Marvel struggles to innovate, it remains to be seen whetherThunderboltswill embrace its potential. Look atSuicide Squad. Maybe Marvel can actually deliver on the promise ofDirty Dozenwith superheroes.
MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a sprawling movie and television franchise that weaves together individual stories of superheroes including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and many more. The first film in the franchise, Iron Man, was released in 2008. The MCU has garnered critical praise and financial success, earning billions at the box office and becoming a cultural phenomenon.
