Movies Like Thunderbolts*

Frequently asked about Thunderbolts*

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Is Marvel Thunderbolts a hit or flop?▾

  Thunderbolts* opened to strong reviews and a roughly $76 million domestic debut in May 2025, going on to gross over $380 million worldwide. Against a reported production budget of around $180 million, it was considered a modest box office success rather than a blockbuster on the scale of earlier MCU tentpoles.

• Was Iron Man or Hulk first?▾

  Iron Man was released first, on May 2, 2008, launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Incredible Hulk followed about six weeks later, on June 13, 2008.

• What is Marvel's Thunderbolts movie about?▾

  Thunderbolts* follows a group of disillusioned antiheroes and former villains, including Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and John Walker, who are pulled together by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. After realizing they have been set up to be eliminated, the team must work together on a dangerous mission while confronting their pasts and a powerful new threat.

• What is the Void inside Bob, and why does it consume people?▾

  The Void is a manifestation of Bob's suppressed trauma and self-loathing — a psychic darkness that grew inside him after years of government experimentation under Valentina's Sentry program. It externalizes as a reality-devouring entity that pulls people and matter into an endless black oblivion. Because Bob unconsciously believes he is worthless and deserves to disappear, the Void expresses that belief outward, erasing everything around him as a projection of his desire for annihilation.

• Why does Yelena choose to stay with Bob rather than fight or flee when the Void takes over?▾

  Yelena recognizes that the Void cannot be defeated through force — every attack only escalates Bob's internal conflict and strengthens the entity. She chooses to reach Bob emotionally, using their bond to give him a reason to anchor himself in reality rather than dissolve into the Void. Her approach reflects her own arc: she has spent the film learning to trust connection over mission, and she extends that to Bob even at personal risk.

• What happens to New York during the Void event, and are the people consumed actually dead?▾

  The Void physically engulfs a large portion of Manhattan, pulling structures and civilians into a dark void-space that exists outside normal reality. The film implies the absorbed people are suspended rather than destroyed — they are returned when Bob regains control and the Void recedes. This mirrors the comic-book Void mythology where the entity stores rather than destroys, though the film keeps the exact mechanics deliberately ambiguous.

• Why does the team end up publicly branded as heroes despite being a black-ops group of former villains and weapons?▾

  After stopping the Void event in full view of New York, the team's actions are witnessed by thousands of survivors and captured on footage that spreads immediately. Valentina's attempt to disavow and eliminate them backfires because the public narrative is already set. The survivors and the broader world see a group of damaged people who chose to stand and fight rather than run, which the film positions as the authentic definition of heroism regardless of the characters' prior records.

• What does the asterisk in the title 'Thunderbolts*' signify within the story?▾

  The asterisk is never explained through explicit dialogue, functioning as a thematic marker rather than an in-universe designation. It echoes how each member of the team carries an unspoken qualifier on their identity — they are heroes*, soldiers*, people*, all with an unstated caveat attached to their sense of self. By the end of the film, when the group publicly claims the name, the asterisk suggests that the label is incomplete by design, leaving room for what they are still becoming.