Comic book and movie fans’ opinions on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next film, , are split roughly a month ahead of its release. Detractors long for a version of the ensemble film that focuses on a group of characters with a greater variety of superhuman powers than the one that’s been selected, while others are excited to see the franchise’s antiheroes cross paths in a film that looks to put a surreal and darkly comedic spin on the superhero genre. I count myself among the latter group and .

Like Marvel’s famed original Avengers movie, Thunderbolts* is being promoted as focusing on the comedy and drama that is provoked when its mismatched protagonists are forced to work together to save the world. This new team is a dark bunch of misfits, all super soldiers or spies who have been forced and/or chosen to kill and take on other morally questionable missions. In fact, the group, or at least most of it, is only going to come together because of their cutthroat work. In a recent interview with the print edition of , executive producer confirmed that the leads will first encounter one another after Contessa Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine (), who was last shown after being elevated to the position of CIA director in , sends them to kill one another.

Most fans have been assuming this would be the case since at least the release of the film’s first trailer last fall, which shows Yelena Belova (), John Walker/U.S. Agent (), Ava Starr/Ghost (), and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster () engaged in a vicious four-way knife and gun fight with each other, until they are interrupted by the arrival of the mysterious Bob (). But the fact that Chapek is willing to confirm this plot point ahead of the film’s release is still an encouraging sign. Many of Marvel’s best projects are those that focus on the espionage and military-related characters of the franchise, with stories styled after classic spy media (the Disney+ series being an unfortunate exception) and and begs new questions about the character.

Val’s always been obviously amoral and ruthless, but her past appearances have also emphasized that she is clearly trying to get as many superhumans and related assets under her control (or at least that of the U.S. government) as she can. She recruited John for covert operations as soon as he enhanced himself with a version of the super soldier serum and was dishonorably discharged from the regular military, and she told her ex-husband, Everett Ross (), that she dreamed of what America could do if it had access to as much of the superpowered metal vibranium as the nation of Wakanda does.

Given this, it’s surprising that she would be willing to sacrifice four enhanced agents she’s clearly able to manipulate, so her motives for the scheme must be quite significant. Furthermore, her trying to kill her own operatives paints the character as a more overt villain, despite whatever sympathetic and patriotic qualities she might have. This ensures that the character’s role will not come across as too similar to that of ’s Nick Fury in the MCU’s first movies, and while also including the humorous aspects viewers expect of most of the legendary actress’ characters.

The roles of the remaining Thunderbolts members, James “Bucky” Barnes/Winter Soldier (), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (), and especially Bob, are similarly intriguing. Despite his docile-looking introduction, Bob is all but confirmed to be the MCU’s version of Robert Reynolds/The Sentry, one of the most powerful and unpredictable crime fighters in the history of Marvel Comics. Seeing how such an immensely powerful character fits into what otherwise looks to be a more relatively grounded spy thriller is another compelling mystery about the film. Ultimately, Thunderbolts* looks to be a return to many of the qualities that originally made the MCU so popular. Its story is the culmination of patient foreshadowing in earlier projects that also looks to make some ambitious choices by focusing on lesser-known characters, allowing gifted performers to really dig into them and make them well-rounded figures, .