Ben Child

The big Thunderbolts* plot twist shows Marvel wants them to save the MCU. Are they serious?

Casting A-listers such as Florence Pugh strongly suggests these misfit superhero also-rans will not be limited to just one adventure

Warning: contains spoilers

This article contains major spoilers, so do not read if you have not watched Thunderbolts*. There was always something deeply suspicious about that asterisk, and now the word is out. If you’ve been to see it during the past week, you’ll know that the motley crew of antiheroes and sometime superheroes led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and David Harbour’s Red Guardian may well be the New Avengers.

The Thunderbolts* big twist means Marvel wants them to save the MCU. Are they serious?

Casting A-listers such as Florence Pugh strongly suggests these misfit superhero also-rans will not be limited to just one adventure

Warning: contains spoilers

This article contains major spoilers, so do not read if you have not watched Thunderbolts*. There was always something deeply suspicious about that asterisk, and now the word is out. If you’ve been to see it during the past week, you’ll know that the motley crew of antiheroes and sometime superheroes led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and David Harbour’s Red Guardian may well be the New Avengers.

Has Marvel shot itself in the foot by bringing superfreak Sentry into Thunderbolts*?

The inconveniently irrational god-being makes Rocket Raccoon look positively humdrum. Would it be wise to let him monopolise the multiverse?

Is there ever a right time to introduce into your superhero universe a psychologically unstable god-being with the potential to sneeze a continent off the map? It is probably not when – 17 years in – you are being accused of having lost half your audience to superhero fatigue. But that’s exactly what Marvel is doing this weekend as Thunderbolts* brings us Sentry, quite possibly the freakiest superhero to ever grace the comic book publisher’s hallowed pages. You thought Rocket Raccoon was weird and unhinged? Reckon Moon Knight is a bit of a handful? This guy makes them look like well-adjusted professionals with decent pensions.