The new Marvel film has some surprising ways in which to help young people think about faith - Charles Merritt helps Christian parents unpack Thunderbolts*
Film: Thunderbolts*
Age rating: 12A
Runtime: 126 minutes
See this if you liked: Black Widow, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Overview: A group of hired killers are forced to embark on a mission that will force themselves to confront the dark corners of their past.
What I liked:
It’s been a bumpy road since Endgame but this is a fantastic addition to the Marvel universe because it’s actually able to stand on its own as a good film.
This is by far one of the best character driven stories the MCU has delivered us. Yelena’s opening monologue beautifully sets the tone and lets us know that this is a movie about finding purpose away from all that you’ve previously known and done. Every character in this film has a dark past, forced to be something they didn’t ever want to be but having no idea how to be anything else. Yes, it’s slightly depressing but there’s hope by the end of the movie.
Despite the slightly bleak thesis the film starts out on, there is a lot of comedy. As most Marvel movies, there are some quips that could have been left on the cutting room floor, but I would argue (outside of the Guardians films) this is one of the funniest. Maybe not side-splittingly funny, it’s more intellectual (?) in the sense that the characters point out things you as an audience member are noticing. My favourite line was probably ‘so no one on our team flies?’ –a great deadpan delivery that acknowledged this new team’s flaws.
Florence Pugh is a phenomenal actress and holds the movie on the shoulders of her ability to be charismatic in the most unenthusiastic way. Another comical highlight is her reaction to her ‘dad’, the Red Guardian, picking her and her new teammates up in his limo – Yelena is like a grumpy teenager in all the best ways.
If we could all be as enthusiastic at the Red Guardian about supporting one another, I think young people would feel a lot less lonely
The rest of the cast are great too. Particular mentions go to Lewis Pullman as Bob, who plays every single dimension of his character to great effect, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the cold-blooded manipulator Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
It’s just nice to have good storytelling back on the big screen (I’m looking at you Minecraft) , one that feels nuanced and believable – even if there are superpowers involved…
What I didn’t like:
This is probably more of a compliment than a criticism, but I would’ve liked to have spent more time with these characters before the big finale. It would have added a little more weight and might have actually produced tears instead of me gearing up to being teary-eyed.
Notes for Parents:
There is some bad language and references to drug use.
Read more:
Captain America: Brave New World – Can people change (beyond turning into a Hulk…)?
Snow White – A kingdom of love, not fear
Faith thoughts:
There’s a great sense of loneliness and brokenness in the main characters of this movie. I might not be a soviet agent, but I can relate to some of those feelings. Yelena is searching for meaning, purpose or joy but doesn’t seem to be able to find it anywhere she’s looking. She throws herself into her work but it’s not giving the same rush as perhaps it once did.
The Centre for Social Justice has said that Gen Z faces an ‘epidemic’ of loneliness. This has been backed up by the ‘Community Life Survey 2021/22: Wellbeing and loneliness’ which found that those aged 16-24 were most likely to feel lonely, with 25-34year olds only just behind, challenging our assumptions that it is often the elderly who are being left behind.
Teenagers can be difficult. They can put up defensive walls, pretend they’re listening to us even though we can clearly see the AirPod in the ears, and give us one-word answers to questions that ultimately demand more. We may assume that they don’t want to talk and wish to be left alone, but really, deep down, we are all longing for connection and relationship. Why wouldn’t we? Afterall, weren’t we created by a relational God?
The superpower of the Church should be, and must be, the relational element
And their worlds hold great darkness. Not only are they going through changes to their bodies, school pressures and friendship problems, but they are also more aware of the world around them than any generation before. They can see things on their phones that people would have never had access to a hundred years ago. Wars, economic uncertainty, divisive politics etc. Do I need to say more?
But there is hope. We have hope. We know that Jesus hasn’t left us on our own, we have the Holy Spirit by our side. And we know that the Kingdom of God is coming. But more importantly, we know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. There are pockets of the Kingdom on Earth. And the Church is called to be those pockets.
Church is more than a service. It’s more than a sermon. It’s more than a couple of worship songs. The superpower of the Church should be, and must be, the relational element. Not just vertically to God, but outward to each other. The drop-off of young people from church as they venture into adulthood is because they lack relationship. Once they move beyond their youth group, who is there to greet them on the other side? Who is there to journey with them? That’s not to say there aren’t people willing to be there for them, but it needs to start earlier.
Young people need to know that the whole Church will ‘rejoice with those who rejoice’ and ‘mourn with those who mourn’ (Romans 12:15) and be there for them when life begins to feel dark. They need people to remind them that ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ (John 1:5).
If we could all be as enthusiastic at the Red Guardian about supporting one another, I think young people would feel a lot less lonely…
