Now for something I haven't done in a long time

This evening over dinner Mrs. Graybeard and I did something we haven't done in quite a while.  We used our streaming subscription to Disney+ to watch a movie we didn't catch in the theater, the new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie based on characters that have been cast since the Infinity War, and End Game movies about Thanos killing half of humanity.  It's called Thunderbolts: The New Avengers.   

If you've been a reader for a while, you know I like movies that aren't serious human drama.  I had enough Shakespeare in school and enough real life drama years ago.  No typical, Hallmark-channel, romantic comedies, and not much in the way of dramas that don't involve sci fi, whether that means a super hero movie or some programmed super soldier like a Jason Bourne.  As a general rule, I've liked comic book movies, although I've liked the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) more than the DC movies.  

I've said many times that Thor: Ragnarok has been my favorite of the Marvel movies and just tons of lighthearted fun - for a topic as serious as the end of the world for Thor's planet, Asgard.  There really hasn't been one that I think unseats Ragnarok, but that's not to say none of the newer MCU movies have been enjoyable or fun.   

With a couple of exceptions, all of the characters in Thunderbolts are familiar from other theatrical movies or streaming series in the last few years and of those exceptions only one major character is completely new addition to the MCU.  The main characters are Yelena Belova played by Florence Pugh a role she first played in Black Widow, Bucky Barnes by Sebastian Stan, Alexei Shostakov who is Yelena Belova's father played by David Harbour, John Walker by Wyatt Russell, and Ava Starr by Hannah John-Kamen.  All of these actors/characters have been in at least a few movies except I think Hannah John-Kamen was only in one movie, Ant Man and the Wasp (AKA Ant Man 2) as someone who could slip between universes.  The one completely new major character is Robert Reynolds (pretty much just called "Bob") played by Lewis Pullman. 

Without getting into too much detail the movie is about them coming together to form a new team.  All of them have problems they need to work with (or around).  All of them talk about depression and the hard, lonely lives they find themselves in.  They have a big problem to solve, caused by another actor and character in previous movies, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus a Washington DC insider who's trying to get more power for herself by using other people.  

The main "New Avengers" from a publicity shot.  Left to right: Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)

Image credit: Marvel Cinematic Universe

While the movie had its opening in theaters in the June time frame, and played in theaters for a while, I don't know if it was considered a success.  ScreenRant considered it one of the 10 best movies of '25, with most of the year past.  Like I said, we watched this on Disney+ which is part of our streaming service, Hulu, so it was no money out of pocket to watch.  We're paying for these things no matter what.  To my mind it was a respectably good movie and like the writer at ScreenRant, I think it's evidence Marvel movies have recovered.  I'll grade it a B.