Spoiler Alert: This story discusses major plot developments, including the ending, of Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts*,” currently playing in theaters.

The climactic battle in “Thunderbolts*” is unlike any other Marvel Studios movie in its 17 year history. Throughout the film, whenever members of the titular ad-hoc antihero team come into physical contact with Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), they find themselves suddenly sucked inside the memory of one of their greatest shames. For Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), it’s when she lured her friend to her death as her first test for the Red Room. For John Walker (Wyatt Russell), it’s sniping at his wife and neglecting his crying son in the aftermath of his disgrace during the events of 2021’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” For Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), it’s witnessing her father’s murder as a young girl.

In the film’s final act, the...