Marvel’s Villain Team-Up Is Already Avoiding 1 Major Mistake In The DCEU’s Worst Reviewed Movie

Marvel’s Thunderbolts is essentially the MCU‘s Suicide Squad, but it can avoid one significant flaw from the DCEU’s 2016 film. Thunderbolts is an upcoming team-up film with some of the most popular anti-heroes and villains from the MCU. While similar to the Suicide Squad, the Thunderbolts aren’t all criminals who will have their heads blown up if they don’t participate in whatever task they’re forced to do. Still, the Thunderbolts take on missions that The Avengers can’t, using more unconventional tactics while doing so.

While little is known about the story, Thunderbolts’ cast is impressive, with Yelena Belova, the Winter Soldier, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and U.S. Agent. All of these characters have appeared in previous projects within the MCU, whether they were significant villains or fought alongside the Avengers. Since audiences are already familiar with these characters, Thunderbolts has a major advantage over Suicide Squad.

One of the worst aspects of 2016’s Suicide Squad was the introductions to the characters. The opening is incredibly rushed as it has to set up every villain, giving audiences their backgrounds, how they got locked up, and the basics of their personalities. It has poor editing and clunky exposition, leading to hilarious moments like Rick Flag’s introduction of Katana. Fortunately, Thunderbolts can avoid this issue as most viewers will already be familiar with these characters since they’ve already made their MCU debuts.

Yelena, Red Guardian, and Taskmaster all debuted in Black Widow, Ghost was the main villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and U.S. Agent starred alongside Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Thunderbolts may have to include brief bits of dialogue that provide some background for newcomers, but it can largely skip the introductions and the lengthy exposition that comes with it. The film can jump straight into the action, with little setup before it gets going.

How Else Thunderbolts Can Be A Better Movie Than DC’s Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad is littered with moments where the film tries to make the characters more likable. Since they are notorious villains, they have to either crack jokes or have complex character traits that make them more relatable to the audience. This can often seem forced or out of character for villains who are supposed to be mostly evil, and few of the characters really feel like villains at all.

For Thunderbolts, most of these characters, such as Yelena and Winter Soldier, are already well-liked by audiences, so Marvel doesn’t have to waste time trying to make them more relatable. A few of the team’s members, like U.S. Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster, might need some help from the writing department as they’re still in the middle of their arcs, but that doesn’t need to take up most of the story. Marvel should focus on the concept of taking its beloved anti-heroes and placing them on an exciting mission while also ensuring their chemistry is excellent.

Key Release Dates