Why The Villainous Thunderbolts Rosters Do Better Than The Heroic Teams

The Thunderbolts is a Marvel team that doesn’t have the same legacy as the Avengers, the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. This is due to the concept being somewhat newer in the grand scheme of things, though it’s gone through several rosters since the group’s introduction. Ironically enough, the versions of the team that are closest to how things started are also the most interesting.

Newer incarnations of the Thunderbolts simply involve street-level or “dark” heroes. This is even the case with the team’s most recent book and the upcoming incarnation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, that’s not what the group originally was, and simply resorting to this concept hasn’t been as successful.

The Thunderbolts’ First Roster Involved a Shocking Revelation

First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #449 by Kurt Busiek

The Thunderbolts were introduced in the aftermath of a major battle in the Marvel Universe that essentially excised the “less popular” brands from the publisher’s ranks for a time. The aftermath of the “Onslaught” story arc saw the Avengers seemingly killed, with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes actually taken away safely (along with the Fantastic Four) to a pocket dimension where their histories were temporarily rewritten.

This was part of the “Heroes Reborn” event, in which production of those characters’ comic books was outsourced to Image Comics and former Marvel employees Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee. In their stead arose a new group called the Thunderbolts, which sought to protect the world as the next premiere superhero team. However, this union of so-called heroes wasn’t exactly what many believed it to be.

In reality, the original Thunderbolts were actually members of the Masters of Evil, which were essentially the Legion of Doom/Injustice Gang to the Avengers’ Justice League. This was revealed at the end of the first issue of the Thunderbolts comic book, and it was all a part of Baron Zemo’s master plan. Previously, Zemo had summoned his former Masters of Evil allies to assist him in saving his former bodyguard, Goliath, with the baron using his new manpower to try and attack the Avengers. Unfortunately for him, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were taken out by Onslaught as soon as the other villains arrived. However, Zemo still realized the need for costumed heroes and created his devious scheme.

Zemo and the Masters of Evil reimagined themselves as the Thunderbolts, masquerading as heroes under new identities and a fake history. This was in an attempt to gain the same reverence as the Avengers, thus granting the Thunderbolts the same information that Zemo would then use after selling it to the criminal underworld.

Their ranks were soon joined by Jolt, who actually believed these lies about her new allies. Likewise, many of the former villains (most of whom had never been major threats within the Marvel Universe) also revealed their roles as heroes. Unfortunately, the return of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, not to mention Zemo’s revealing the truth behind the team, curtailed many of the former Masters’ heroic transitions.

Later Takes On the Thunderbolts Abandoned the Central Premise

The intriguing twist that the Thunderbolts were actually villains in disguise was something that logically could only have been done once, but the central concept was strong. It showcased how villains might be able to actually reform, especially if they received the same respect given to the heroes. This is what made the team and series interesting, especially as outside factors curtailed these efforts.

For instance, Hawkeye joined the original team and attempted to get the truly remorseful former villains pardoned for their crimes. At the same time, Henry Gyrich waged war against the team from a political standpoint. Similar ideas were revived during Civil War, with heroes attempting to recruit villains into a Pro-Superhuman Registration Act version of the Thunderbolts. The same was the case with Norman Osborn’s take on the team, which offered former villains a chance at redemption under the purview of the much less-than-heroic Green Goblin.

Eventually, this team morphed into Dark Avengers, furthering the Avengers’ intellectual property during the Dark Reign event. This was particularly ironic given that the original Thunderbolts team and comic came about to fill a gap when the Avengers were far from major heroes. Unfortunately, the second Thunderbolts team under Osborn’s control was more of a group full of assassins, which led to the concept’s general downfall.

Marvel Has Reduced the Thunderbolts to Its Suicide Squad

Modern Suicide Squad’s First Appearance: Legends #3 (January 1987) by John Ostrander, Len Wein, John Byrne, Karl Kesel, Tom Ziuko and Steve Haynie

As noted, the second team of Thunderbolts that answered to former Green Goblin Norman Osborn was assassin-based, making them more similar to paramilitary superhuman groups such as X-Force. Newer teams that have obviously inspired the Thunderbolts roster in the upcoming MCU movie of the same name have made the team into a dark, gritty, and sometimes street-level espionage group.

It’s completely removed from the original concept and deprives the Thunderbolts of what makes them more than just another superhero group. It blatantly emulates another team of villains from a rival comic book publisher. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics retooled the obscure Silver Age idea of the “Suicide Squad.” Now, the team was made up of supervillains who were coraled by Amanda Waller as she sent the government-controlled group on deadly missions.

These characters were still villains, of course, and they often went on to vex their respective heroes whenever they could escape the clutches of Waller. Such was the case with The Flash and Green Arrow villains Captain Boomerang and Count Vertigo. Following a relaunch in the New 52 comic book reboot and a push into the limelight via movies in the DC Extended Universe, the Suicide Squad became one of DC’s most commonly seen teams. However, the concept still hinged on unrepentant villains forced to do good, with the tagline for David Ayer’s Suicide Squad movie perfectly describing the team as “bad vs. evil.”

Modern Rosters Lost What Made The Thunderbolts Great

The Thunderbolts have been given the same treatment for years, with the roster featuring the Red Hulk, The Punisher and others beginning the team’s devolution into being a darker group meant for more violent stories. There’s none of the striving to be heroes amid a team of former villains, which separated the Thunderbolts of old from both good and bad guys. For this reason, most of these newer rosters have been far less successful and memorable compared to what’s come before.

It’s also why those familiar with the original iteration from the comic books dislike the announced MCU roster of the Thunderbolts so much. Many fans feel that the current creative trajectory of the Thunderbolts is just an attempt to capitalize on what DC did with the Suicide Squad. Something similar can be seen with the upcoming New Champions, a team that’s very similar in concept to the “Young Justice Society” from the recent series Stargirl and the Lost Children.

This new legacy-based team spun out of the Justice Society of America, and the similarities are too noticeable to ignore. The potential success of the new movie will also cement this path as the go-to for the team despite it being inherently less interesting than a group of former villains who are legitimately trying to do the right thing. The iterations where the Thunderbolts were merely a strikeforce for a villain also added to this, as no potential heroism was at play.

It’s now simply a catch-all term for “supervillain” enforcers who act as bodyguards for whoever sicks them like dogs on a leash. While this might be the future fate of the Thunderbolts concept, many fans agree that something closer to the original idea offers much more narrative potential.