On the floor, Marvel’s Thunderbolts* (or New Avengers, I assume I ought to say now), is a narrative about seemingly expendable assassins and operatives, coming collectively to struggle off a giant dangerous. Nonetheless, on a deeper stage, this Marvel mission that premiered on the 2025 film schedule is about loneliness, melancholy, trauma, and the way we deal with them. It’s in regards to the significance of household, assist and the ability of emotional vulnerability, and I believe nobody’s character illustrates that higher than Florence Pugh’s Yelena.
I Appreciated How Candid Thunderbolts’ Depiction Of Yelena’s Loneliness Was
From the soar – like actually from the base soar off a tall constructing – it’s made very clear simply how lonely Yelena is. In her first mission within the film, she captures a person on her personal, saves a guinea pig and blows up a constructing whereas sporting a hoodie and lamenting about her job and its repetitiveness.
She’s working on autopilot and easily making an attempt to outlive the day. Nonetheless, the loneliness and “vacancy” are attending to her. That turns into extremely clear, too, as later within the film we see her see herself consuming by the bath.
Whereas she’s nonetheless clearly working and dealing, she additionally doesn’t disguise how lonely and damage she’s feeling, which I actually respect. I personally beloved the second the place she and Lewis Pullman’s Bob have been bonding proper once they met, and he or she mentioned:
I perceive, all of us really feel like shit generally, and loneliness, I get that, I get it. And that darkness will get fairly engaging, after which it begins to really feel a bit bit like…Yep. A void.
Whereas she mentioned she didn’t care and finally joked with Bob about pushing these emotions down, her facial expressions mentioned in any other case, and because the film progressed, that bond with Bob deepened, and her look after the opposite Thunderbolts did too.
I used to be additionally deeply moved by Yelana and Alexei’s relationship. Her loneliness is predicated on the grief she’s been coping with after the lack of her sister. So, watching her grapple with that whereas her father-figure lastly comes again into her life was extremely emotional and fairly transferring.
As somebody who has struggled with loneliness, I discovered Yelena’s story and wrestle to be actual and uncooked. I additionally discovered the way in which the movie helped her by this difficult time deeply transferring too, as a result of in my expertise, assist from associates and giving again that assist will be probably the most therapeutic factor.
I Cherished How The Movie Validated Her Emotions And Then Gave Her A Help System To Assist Her Heal
As I discussed earlier, general, Thunderbolts* is a film about melancholy, loneliness, grief and the way we deal with it healthily. We see this concept actually personified by Bob’s Void, and we see Yelena fearlessly face it by actually moving into it.
Nonetheless, we additionally watch the opposite folks she’s combating alongside step into it after her. That’s not the one time this occurs within the movie, both. All through Thunderbolts*, this group is consistently supporting one another (even whether it is reluctantly at occasions), they usually clearly get the place their fellow fighters are coming from.
It’s that act of validation and assist time and time once more (even when it’s not by the obvious actions) that actually helps folks get out of darkish occasions. I believe we noticed that superbly depicted all through the entire film.
The best way the group adopted Yelena into the Void and supported her by that was one of the therapeutic scenes within the film to me.
Some have mentioned that Thunderbolts* helped remedy their Marvel fatigue, and that was true for me, too. I believe it’s primarily due to the way it’s based mostly on these relatable and emotional representations of loneliness, melancholy and psychological well being, and I used to be probably the most moved by what Yelena went by.
To return and watch Yelena and her teammates’ journey, now you can stream Thunderbolts* with a Disney+ subscription.