Thunderbolts* Plot
PLOT: Everyone on the team but Bucky and Red Guardian are tasked with getting rid of loose ends from Valentinas Ox connections as congress is attempting to impeach her for corruption and a slurry of other charges related to the Ox corp. This leads them all to an Ox base in the middle of the desert, which is like a mile underground.
Bucky is a congressman, trying to help in the impeachment investigation by talking to Val's assistant, Mel. RG owns a limo service and sneaks his way into driving Valentina which helps him discover Yelena is in trouble
Taskmaster is almost immediately killed via headshot by Ava/Ghost and they then figure out they were sent there to be cut as some of Val's remaining loose ends. The fights/stunts are EPIC and Bob pops out from behind a crate. Heidi Moneymaker is definitely making money off this one!!!
They escape the room by trusting Ava to come back for them after phasing out of the incinerator room, but then have to climb up an elevator shaft to the surface, Pacha & Kuzco-style (Bob's idea). They get to the top and Walker saves the team using a fire hose. Each member that touches Bob has dark visions of their past brought on by the Void that lives inside of Bob. I believe Yelena even provided the moniker based on her own mental health battles that she discusses with Bob.
Yelena demands Bob stays behind her in order to help in their escape and the team work together to escape the compound as agents come to finish the job (non-leathally?) as Val just discovered a Sentry candidate survived the testing (Bob)and wants the subject unharmed.
Ava phases out to go find a ride, Yelena tries to blind everyone using night vision by turning on all the lights, but it doesn't work. So Walker and Yelena fight the guards sent to get the Sentry candidate all while Bob is tied to Yelena via the same firehose they used to get out of the elevator.
The team escape in guard attire to the exterior and are picked up by Ava. Their vehicle gets stopped by security just as they're about to leave and Bob escapes out the back of the APV and begins shooting in the air as a distraction. The team in the truck escape. Bob is shot at, gets/reveals his powers and then shoots off into the sky, only to crash down into a crater nearby, knocking the escape vehicle down a cliff with the blast wave.
Yelena, having connected with Bob and his mental health issues wants the three of them (Walker, Ghost, Yelena) to rescue Bob. RG and his limo are seen driving towards them and he shows up honking his horn all the way trying to warn Yelena that Val is trying to off her (albeit a bit late). They ride in the limo out east but are soon followed by a convoy. Bucky saves them from the convoy but then captures the team. The team discusses Bob and Bucky receives a tip from Mel that Bob is a threat and he needs to get whoever he can to stop him as he's unstable and OP. Meanwhile Val introduces herself to Bob and tell him she believes in him and knows his potential. He tests his powers by boiling a glass of water. He also makes Val see a dark vision from her childhood when she touches him. This alerts her to some of the darkness inside him, but she proceeds anyway because power. Costume sample fabrics and such are seen in the background of the makeshift room whole she talks to Bob.
Bucky and the team join forces and head to NY in a Box truck. They arrive at the old Avengers tower where Val is forced to setup a new lab as she's destroyed everything else, trying to hide evidence from the investigation committee. They fight their way in, just to find that Val is upstairs waiting for them. They talk, threaten Val and are introduced to a wonderfully suited Sentry who deliciously kicks their asses. (I wish the segment was longer as it's soooooo good) The team flees and Sentry questions why he has to listen to Val. She tries to reach his kill switch but fails and almost gets choked to death until Mel appears and pulls the trigger for her. Sentry's eyes go bloodshot and his body falls to the floor, presumably dead. Val calls for a clean up and Mel demands a raise.
The team fight about how they can't defeat Sentry and try to part ways, only to be brought back together by heroic acts of saving civilians from a new shadowy darkness. The Void hovers near the top of Avengers tower and takes down people and helicopters, resulting in a falling crane/debris that the team have to save people from. They try to help the bystanders to safety but many are consumed by the void. Yelena embraces the void and disappears into the void's vision world.
Yelena works to escape the dark childhood vision and find Bob, but ends up going from one shitty memory to another. She sees Bob in reflections and finally finds a way to him in a seemingly not so bad memory. It turns out it's a memory from Bob's screwed up childhood and Yelena (and the audience) feel for Bob. The rest of the team arrives in the dark vision void to save Yelena and Bob. They then attempt to escape by heading to the worst memory in the void and face the suited chicken along the way. Bob blames the memory on his past use of Meth (I'm surprised Marvel said it). They find the memory when Bob's Sentry testing began and face off against the void together. The void gets the upper hand, but the team cheer Bob on. Bob then goes a little crazy, steering into the darkness and you see the void taking him over. The team then fight to pull Bob off of the void to keep him from turning into all Void.
The team escape the void real with Bob and he remembers none of it and makes a comment about the mess left in the wake. The team then try to chase down Val, only to be tricked into walking straight into a press conference where she introduces the team as the New Avengers, which Val claims she's been working on in secret. Yelena whispers "We own you now" to Val and the movie ends with the team accepting the title. The New Avengers is their name now, not the Thunderbolts for those who keep asking why the ✳️.
There is a lot more emotional dialogue and connections between characters that I'll leave out as they make the movie worth watching. Very relatable, dark, but impactful. Go see it!!!
MID-CREDITS: Red Guardian is on the cereal aisle presumably waiting for people to walk down it. He grabs a box of Wheaties off the shelf and tries to get a lady to take it while posing next to the image of the New Avengers on the box. She takes the box, walks away and sets it down at the end of the aisle before hurrying off.
END CREDITS: 14 months later, the team is in their new HQ and mention Sam is suing the team for trademark infringement (Hopefully he's building his own team?). RG has some pit crew looking sweatsuit on that he has New Avengerz on as his idea on how to dismiss the lawsuit. Yelena mentions space anomolies and an ongoing space crisis. Someone asks Bob what powers he's going to use and he mentions that Sentry can't come out to play without risking the Void coming out as well. Bob then says "he did the dishes, though". The team is then alerted to an incoming vessel/object from space. They then pull up footage on a tablet and it's the Fantastic 4 rocket entering the atmosphere. (Their bigass logo is on it and I believe their theme plays for those asking how we know it's the). The costuming and wigs worn by the team in this scene are ROUGH, IMO
The screen cuts to black and says "The New Avengers and Bob will return"
RATING: 8/10. A dark and relatable mental health story supported by excellent action, good writing and wonderful acting (especially by Bob and Yelena)