The Thunderbolts (film)

The Thunderbolts (also presented as Marvel's The Thunderbolts) is an American superhero film based on Marvel Comics. It is the third installment in the All New, All Different Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as an follow-up sequel to Spider-Man: Web Warriors and Wolverine: Gods and Mutants respectively.

Premise
Believing that the Avengers cannot be the only guardian faction protecting the Earth, Phil Coulson organizes a new team of individuals called the Thunderbolts, who band together to stop Amora the Enchantress, who arrives from Asgard to take over the Earth by seducing the new powerful super-criminal Graviton.

Plot
Three years ago, Roxxon scientist Dr. Franklin Hall was experimenting on the Oscorp formulas responsible for Norman Osborn's transformation into the Green Goblin and the Dark Elf technology scavenged in London after Thor's battle with Malekith. Right after one of the electromagnetic grenades exploded, Hall was violently infused by the Oscorp formulas and the Dark Elf weapons. Hall survived the progress and eventually manifested the abilities to manipulate Gravity itself. Driven insane and overwhelmed by a god-complex by his newfound power, Hall (dubbing himself "Graviton") went for a rampage until he was neutralized by the incoming S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and imprisoned in the underground of the Raft.

In present day, following Spider-Man's welcome to the Avengers and Magneto's sacrifice, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, deciding that the Avengers are not to be the only guardian force on Earth, is introducing a new idea called the Thunderbolts Project, a military team of individuals similar to the Avengers consisting of (as Coulson describes) "unusual but still dedicated heroes". The executives eventually approve Coulson's idea as the Avengers are greatly busy contending with other threats.
 * Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Captain Steve Rogers's best friend and war partner who was presumed killed in action during World War II until he was revived and brainwashed by Hydra as an enhanced assassin. He was cured from his brainwashing and recovered his memories thanks to the efforts of Rogers and some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents allied to him and some therapy by Gwen Stacy.
 * Felicia Hardy / Black Cat, a cat-suited vigilante of Queens who became one of Spider-Man's new crime-fighting partners.
 * Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark's liasion and old friend who operates in the War Machine armor since he and Stark worked together to stop Ivan Vanko.
 * Scott Lang / Ant-Man, a former petty criminal who acquires a suit which allows him to shrink in size but increase in strength. Right after stopping a corrupt plot by former Pym industries prodigy-turned Hydra agent Darren Cross, he is now a official prodigy in Pym Industries.
 * Flash Thompson, a U.S.A. soldier and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who became the host of an alien symbiote which grants him with the same abilities of Spider-Man. After providing control over the organism, Thompson currently operates as "Agent Venom".
 * Sif, an Asgardian warrior and Thor's childhood friend whom S.H.I.E.L.D. agents recall as one of the Asgardian warriors who helped Thor stop the Destroyer in New Mexico. Sif was currently sent by Odin to capture (as Coulson describes) "a rogue wicked witch of Asgard" dead or alive.
 * Korg, a Kronan gladiator who arrived on Earth to seek new allies.
 * Yondu Udonta, the leader of a group of the alien pirates known as the Ravagers.

The witch Coulson mentions Sif to be after happens to be Amora the Enchantress, an seductive sorceress who was exiled from Asgard for her past treachery and secret alliance with Loki. Accompanied only by her loyal bodyguard and executioner Skurge, Amora is recently travelling across Earth while plotting to get revenge on her former people. Having heard of Graviton's rampage on Roxxon, Amora, greatly interested on him for his power, plots to seduce him to her side. She and Skurge break into the Raft and free Graviton from his prison cell, although Graviton's powers are not fully recovered after spending years imprisoned without food or water. Alerted of Graviton's breakout, S.H.I.E.L.D. executives allow Coulson to deploy the Thunderbolts to capture Graviton and Amora (both dead or alive).

Monitored by Doctor Hank Pym, the team investigates the Raft, where they are attacked by the inmates who were mutated into mindless monsters. Sif senses Asgardian magic in one of the inmates and reveals it comes from one of the Norm Stones, powerful Asgardian gems which Hela once tried to use to wipe out all life in the Nine Realms until the Midgard Stone was destroyed by one of the Asgardian Valkyries. Deducing that Amora plans to collect the shards of the stone for her plans, the team decide to split up and collect the shards before Amora does.

Barnes, Sif, Yondu and Korg find some shards in an altar of New York City, which Sif predicts as the place of the final phase of Amora's plan, to which Yondu places an box containing what he mentions as his contingency plan. Coulson, Hardy, Lang, Thompson and Rhodes find some after an encounter with S.H.I.E.L.D. commander Maria Hill, who alerts them that Amora just joined ranks with A.I.M. for her cause. Their chase leads them to Ulysses Klaue, who was hired by A.I.M. director Andrew Forson (also addressed as the Scientist Supreme) to collect some Vibranium stones within a Casino of Los Angeles. The Thunderbolts defeat the A.I.M. agents and their A.I. android M.O.D.O.K. and apprehend Klaue, though Amora and Graviton escape the issuing chaos alongside Forson and the remaining agents.

Coulson and Hill interrogate Klaue, who taunts that Forson's hiring of him was only a diversion for Amora to get the shards of the Norm Stones, which Graviton is willing to absorb to regain his full power. They are later contacted by Barnes to regroup in the New York altar where the final phase of Amora's plan will take place. There, Sif reveals that the Norm Stones cannot fully come together or they will destroy each other and any mortal who is bonded with it. Lang and Thompson manage to build a spear with the shards as Barnes, Rhodes and Yondu prepare booby traps for the A.I.M. agents, who arrive with Amora and Graviton to prepare the ritual. The Thunderbolts directly attack Graviton and, just as their efforts seem worthless against him, Yondu enacts his contingency plan: from inside the box he placed in the altar, comes his telekinetic arrow, which kills the agents, including Forson and Graviton.

Enraged with her plan's failure, Amora absorbs the Norm Stone fragments with her, transforming into a disfigurated Dark Elf-like creature, and attacks the heroes. The other heroes hold Amora back and grant Sif an opportunity to destroy both Amora and the Stone and, using the Norm Stone-made spear, she impales Amora, finally killing her. With their mission complete, the Thunderbolts return to their old lives while vowing to band together for another mission again. They later enjoy a party in the Casino they fought M.O.D.O.K. until a group of rogue Ravagers led by Taserface come out to get revenge on Yondu and the Thunderbolts once again get ready for action.


 * In a Mid-Credit scene, Coulson speaks with Rogers and delivers him a package of files Stark needs. As he leaves, Rogers convinces Coulson to give the Thunderbolts some rest after their successful mission as the Avengers will be handling the next situation.
 * In a post credit scene, Parker encounters Stark and Mary Jane Watson in the Roxxon facility where Graviton manifested his powers. There, they had discovered the corpse of a Chitauri soldier and they are aware that whatever they are or whoever commands them, more of them will still come. As Stark comments his idea for the Avengers' expansion, Parker claims he knows a girl who can fit in.

Main Cast

 * Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, a physically enhanced assassin and Steve Rogers' best friend who reemerged after being thought killed in action during the events of World War II. He is the field leader of the Thunderbolts.
 * Kristen Stewart as Felicia Hardy / Black Cat, a cat-suited vigilante of Queens who became one of Spider-Man's recent superhero partners and a member of the Thunderbolts.
 * Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine, an officer in the U.S. Air Force and Tony Stark's close personal friend who later operates the War Machine armor and is a member and second-in command of the Thunderbolts.
 * Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, a former petty criminal who acquired a suit which allows him to shrink in size but increase in strength. He is now a prodigy in Pym Industries and a member of the Thunderbolts.
 * Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson / Agent Venom, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and soldier and the host of an alien symbiote which grants him with the same abilities of Spider-Man. He is a member of the Thunderbolts.
 * Jaimie Alexander as Sif, an Asgardian warrior, Thor's childhood friend and a member of the Thunderbolts who was sent by Odin to capture Amora dead or alive.
 * Terry Crews as Korg, a Kronan gladiator and a member of the Thunderbolts. Crews provided voice and motion capture to the character.
 * Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, a blue-skinned Centaurian bandit who is the leader of the Ravagers and a member of the Thunderbolts. Through out the film, he uses an arsenal of Ravager Weapons (including rifles and guns) while his trademark self-propelled arrow (which he can control through whistling) is meant to be his "Last Resource" and Surprise Element on the Thunderbolts' mission.
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, an agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. who oversees many of the division's field operations, and the organizer of the Thunderbolts.
 * Emily Blunt as Amora the Enchantress, a seductive powerful sorceress and a Asgardian exile who is manipulating the forces of A.I.M. to her will and is determined to seduce Graviton to her side.
 * John Krasinski as Franklin Hall / Graviton, a former Roxxon scientist until, after a freak lab accident involving combinations of Oscorp experiments with unstable Dark Elf technology, reemerged as a delusional super-criminal with the power to manipulate gravity itself. His power draws the attention of Amora, who is determined to seduce him to her will.
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. allied with Coulson who supports the Thunderbolts Project.
 * Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, entomologist, and physicist who became the original Ant-Man in 1963 after discovering the subatomic particles that make the transformation possible. He later mentored Lang to take over the role. He also supports Coulson's Thunderbolts Project.
 * Karl Urban as Skurge, an Asgardian warrior allied with Amora as her executioner and bodyguard.
 * Matthew McConaughey as Andrew Forson / Scientist Supreme, the leader and director of A.I.M. and the creator of M.O.D.O.K..
 * Peter Dinklage as M.O.D.O.K. (Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing), an A.I. high tech android allied with A.I.M.. Dinklage provided voice and motion capture for the role.
 * Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, a black-market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster working out of South Africa who uses a piece of advanced Wakandan mining equipment as a sonic disruptor arm-cannon. He is allied to A.I.M. and (reluctantly) with Amora.

Supporting Cast

 * Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, an Avenger, a brilliant physics graduate at Columbia University and Detective and Spy working for the New York Police Department (which is in secret service with S.H.I.E.L.D.) who developed spider-like abilities from a genetically-modified spider and uses them to take up the persona of a spider-based vigilante protecting New York City from its criminal underworld. He appears during the moment Coulson enters a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility while commenting himself about how the world changed since the Avengers banded together (Spider-Man is shown in front of the Avengers Tower as the crowd cheers on him as a new member of the Avengers). He is later shown during Coulson's introduction of Black Cat teaming up with her in apprehending Kingpin. The two are later shown sitting in a rooftop laughing at the enraged Fisk's face while he is carried to jail while the two share a high five. He is shown in a post-credit scene with Mary Jane and Stark checking on a Chitauri spawn's corpse, on which Parker, in response of Stark's suggestion that the team still needs more recruits, comments that he knows a girl who can fit in.
 * Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, the half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers. He is shown in the beginning of the film alongside Yondu and their fellow Ravagers defeating members a mutinous group of the Ravagers led by Taserface before asking Yondu about what he will do next.
 * Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Doctor Pym's daughter and Scott's business partner.
 * Judy Greer as Maggie Lang, Scott Lang's wife. She is shown during Coulson's introduction of Lang as Ant-Man having dinner with and their daughter Cassie. She is later shown in the film's climax watching the Thunderbolts' battle with A.I.M. and later, with a berserk-looking Enchantress. She is shown again in the epilogue welcoming her husband back.
 * Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie Lang, Scott Lang's daughter. She is shown during Coulson's introduction of Lang as Ant-Man having dinner with her parents. She is later shown again in the epilogue being visited by Scott in her bedroom.
 * Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, Peter's lab partner and good friend, who is working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist and psychologist. She appears as Barnes's supportive psychologist and develops a genuine attraction for him. She is shown again in the end of the film with Barnes, where it is revealed they have started a relationship.
 * Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Yondu's second-in-command in the Ravagers. He is shown in the beginning of the film alongside Yondu and their fellow Ravagers defeating members a mutinous group of the Ravagers led by Taserface.
 * Anthony Hopkins as Odin, the King of Asgard and Thor's father. He appears during Coulson's introduction of Sif, on which he entrusts her in capturing Amora dead or alive.
 * Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord, a high-ranking legendary Ravager. He is shown in the beginning of the film alongside Yondu and their fellow Ravagers defeating members a mutinous group of the Ravagers led by Taserface.
 * Corey Stoll as Darren Cross / Yellowjacket, a former protégé of Pym's who defected to Hydra and militarizes a similar version of the Ant-Man technology to create the Yellowjacket suit. He appears during Coulson's introduction of Ant-Man, on which he goes for a shootout with police until he is defeated by Lang and taken away to the Raft.
 * Chris Sullivan as Taserface, the leader of a mutinous group of the Ravagers. He is shown robbing a mall in Manhattan alongside his group of rogue Ravagers until they are defeated by Yondu, Quill, Stakar and Kraglin.
 * Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, a powerful criminal businessman of Hell's Kitchen. He is shown during Coulson's introduction of Black Cat being apprehended by her and Spider-Man. As he is taken to prison, he is heard roaring in blind rage at the two when they start laughing at his face.

Cameos

 * Ellen DeGeneres as herself. She appears in the beginning of the film hosting her talk show "The Ellen Show", on which Winter Soldier appears as the guest.
 * Stan Lee (cameo) as a guest of The Ellen Show.
 * Chris Evans (uncredited) as Steve Rogers / Captain America, the leader of the Avengers and a World War II veteran, who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world. He appears during Coulson's introduction of Winter Soldier in flashbacks set during the World War II (archive footage of Captain America: The First Avenger is used) and in a mid-credit scene speaking with Coulson about the files Stark needs. As he leaves, Rogers convinces Coulson to give the Thunderbolts some rest after their successful mission as the Avengers will be handling the next situation.
 * Robert Downey Jr. (uncredited) as Tony Stark / Iron Man, the benefactor of the Avengers, who is a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own invention. He is in a post-credit scene with Parker and Mary Jane checking on a Chitauri spawn's corpse as he comments to be aware of the great threat which comes by and that the team needs more recruits.
 * Kirsten Dunst as (uncredited) Mary Jane "MJ" Watson / Iron Spider, Parker's love interest and Stark's protegee. She is shown with Parker and Stark in a post-credit scene checking on a Chitauri spawn's corpse and complaining that whatever the Chitauri are or whoever leads them, more of them will still come.