Thunderbolts*

A group of compromised operatives becomes entangled in a deadly trap and must find a way to work together. Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes and other familiar faces bring very different histories to a team-up built around mistrust and survival.

This ensemble is interesting because cooperation does not come naturally. Watch which characters recognize something of themselves in the others, and which use humor or aggression to keep a distance. The shared mission gives their unresolved personal histories a place to collide.

A focused starting point

Black Widow ↗

2021 · 2h 14m

Black Widow is a useful route into Yelena and Alexei. The individual character links can fill specific gaps for the other team members without requiring an indiscriminate full rewatch.

Thunderbolts* is a Phase 5 ensemble film. Its cast comes from several earlier stories, but appearing on this page does not turn every previous credit into mandatory preparation.

The catalog lists 127 minutes. The release date above is the catalog’s date for this title; dates and runtimes may differ by territory or edition. Follow the linked film source for its own listing.

Essential before Doomsday. Brings together Yelena, Bucky, Red Guardian, John Walker, Ghost and Bob Reynolds — six Doomsday cast members in one film.