Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* doesn’t have much in common with the comic book version of this team, but then it’s not really a Thunderbolts movie. With a mixture of underutilised fan favourites and some of the best new additions to the Multiverse Saga, it establishes a superhero team as effectively as The Avengers in 2012. The MCU now has its New Avengers, and it’s all the better for it.

For the most part, Thunderbolts* is a relatively standalone, self-contained story. With CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine looking to avoid being impeached, she dispatches Yelena Belova, U.S. Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster to take each other out, cleaning up the final bit of the mess she created while running O.X.E. Her plan fails, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, and Bob enter the fray, and the stage is set for an epic final battle in New York City laden...