Thunderbolts* Brings Back An Old MCU Question That’s Becoming Increasingly Difficult To Ignore
The Thunderbolts* trailer featuring Sentry's attack on New York City stresses a huge superhero problem that has only gotten worse in the MCU's Earth during the Multiverse Saga. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine seems to have leverage over every member of the MCU's Thunderbolts team, as all six of the titular anti-heroes are very unlikely to join forces on their own, let alone team up to fight villains together. What they may not be taking into account is that their final member is much more powerful than all of them together.
The Thunderbolts* trailers tease Robert Reynolds' transformation into Sentry, and Sentry's own alter ego, the Dark Sentry — an evil version of one of Marvel's most powerful heroes, possessed by a dark entity called the Void. Powered by the Void's powers, Sentry possesses the ability to manipulate energy and matter, which makes him able to transform his victims into shadows almost instantly, as shown by Thunderbolts*' trailers. Sentry's immense power makes it extremely difficult for a superhero team like the Thunderbolts to stop him. But the Thunderbolts' low power levels aside, Sentry's sudden arrival exposes a major Avengers problem.
The Thunderbolts* Trailer Suggests New York’s Heroes Won’t Be There To Stop Sentry
Earth's Mightiest Heroes Continue To Ignore Villains That Aren't Strictly Theirs
The Thunderbolts will have to fight Sentry as he attacks New York, and they probably won't receive help from other heroes. After all, Thunderbolts* is a movie centered around the titular anti-hero team, not an Avengers team-up event. Hence, Thunderbolts* will feature yet another supervillain's attack on New York, where many civilians will fall victim to Sentry's powers before the Thunderbolts find a way to stop him. In theory, heroes like Doctor Strange, Wong, and Thor should be prepared to stop threats like these, but they're nowhere to be seen. Once again the MCU poses the question, "where are all the other heroes?"
Previously in MCU history, multiple Avengers failed to intervene in other heroes' battles despite their apparent availability. For instance, Iron Man dealt with President Ellis' kidnapping all by himself in Iron Man 3, Thor fought Malekith alone in London in Thor: The Dark World, and Spider-Man singlehandedly stopped what seemed like an Avengers-level disaster three times in Spider-Man: No Way Home. If these heroes had failed, their respective villains could have caused plenty of damage to entire cities, at best.
Where The Other MCU Heroes Must Be While The Thunderbolts Fight Sentry
Most Active MCU Heroes Are Busy Elsewhere During The Events Of Thunderbolts
There is no official Avengers team during Phase 5, and most heroes still alive are either busy, far away from New York, or close to retirement. Spider-Man is focusing on smaller battles after Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending erased everyone's memories of Peter Parker, Doctor Strange is fixing incursions with Clea, Wong must be overseeing all the Sancta as Sorcerer Supreme, and New York's vigilantes are occupied with their own street-level threats. Meanwhile, Thor must be training Love in New Asgard and visiting other Realms, Captain America just fought Red Hulk and remains on active duty in Washington, and other heroes like Ant-Man, Hulk, and War Machine are residing in other cities during the events of Thunderbolts*.
Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
- May 2, 2025
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
- Director
- Jake Schreier
- Writers
- Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
- Producers
- Kevin Feige
Cast
Yelena Belova
Bucky Barnes
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Budget
- $180 million
- Studio(s)
- Marvel Studios
- Distributor(s)
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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