Joshua Tyler | renew
The Marvel Cinematic Universe enters 2025 on the brink of its collapse. Its TV shows failed, and its movies were thrown away by trash except for the movies that were backed by Deadpool. Marvel needs to change direction to continue, and luckily, it plans one.
Marvel’s Thunder* It debuted in May 2025 with a strong cast, credible word of mouth and marketing twist. It turns out that the small asterisk is very big. Unfortunately, it couldn’t have been better at timing, it failed at the box office.
Now, it is seeking redemption, and so far it is running. Thunder* It has been the number one thing on Disney+ since arriving on the platform last week, and it looks like it will stay there.
Maybe streaming will be Thunder* A classic of a cult, but until it does, it will be considered a failure. This is the reason Thunder* Failed.
Thunderbolts* is Marvel’s first great movie in a long time
The film opens with six morally poor agents: Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and US Agent. Similarly, for reasons they don’t know much about it, they are also a guy named Bob. They decided to call themselves thunderbolt. Well, the Red Guardian (David Harbour) does. Eventually, the others were exhausted.
The group was in trouble in a fatal plan carefully planned by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). As they struggle to escape the trap, they are forced into a high-stakes mission, demanding cooperation and forcing each member to face their own emotional trauma and past.
What is that really Thunder* It’s about. Handle trauma. Trauma is not something you can solve by kicking or punching holes, and it is commendable Thunder* Know this. The movie contains some wild action scenes, but does everything have a climax? Something that saves the world? A comprehensive hug.
If you haven’t seen a movie yet, you may be confused by solving the world’s problems. This is not what happened at all. It’s an emotional and satisfying experience. The movie wins the hug, and when it happens, it means everything. This is a bold choice in the cinematic universe, positioned as a series of biggest power blockbusters.
Thunder and lightning* A man named Bob Reynolds surrounds the most damaged characters. Before unleashing his destructive Alter -ego, “Blank”, he is introduced into a powerful new Superman. His out of control Ability swallows New York City literally and psychologically dark.
To save the city, Jerena (Florence Pug) and other thunder adventures go into the blank to face Bob’s formal wear trauma. She and the rest of the other team struggle with Bob’s inner shame performances as they find a way to save them. Through emotional solidarity, they retreated Bob from the edge, eliminating the gap that consumed the city.
Afterwards, De Fontaine publicly reshapes the team into the new Avengers, who silently resisted with Yelena’s instructions: “We have you now.
Making another miracle movie by the end of the movie is probably the only mistake of this movie. It obscures the central premise of handling trauma and loss. Apart from that, it is safe to say Thunder* It’s one of the best things Marvel has produced for a long time. It’s a wild swing, completely different from a completely different movie that’s been done in the past and totally effective.
Thunder* Comment score
This could have been a movie that saved the miracle. They were just too late. More in a minute.
Faded box office power is doomed to lightning*
I’m right Thunder and lightning* Not the only one. Among those who see it, it is almost a consensus. Critics landed on rotten tomatoes 88%. Audiences to the 90s; Cinemascore in A-. This combination usually predicts longer legs.
That didn’t happen here. At least not in the theater.
The film opens with a score of 1#1, with a global scale of $74.3 million worldwide, respected in the context and better than recent MCU entries. That’s where longer legs come in and should push it to a higher height. Instead, it happened.
After the start, the trend line went wrong. Thunder and lightning*After Tuesday, it fell 56%, and ended up at $190.3 million domestic and $382.4 million. Profitability is always tight in the reported $180 million production budget and additional marketing costs. Trade coverage has fixed the world’s breakeven at $425 million, a threshold that the film has not met.
The film’s first weekend was largely its own, but soon encountered a crowded corridor. It keeps #1 on weekends, and Ryan Coogler’s sleep sinner Still a force that could pile up in new extensive releases that dilute premium screens. By the end of summer, Fantastic Four: Step One Competent to it as the highest Marvel champion of 2025.
Why Thunder* failed in the theater
Thunder and lightning* Postponed by the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike, pushing for shooting and reorganization timetables. Steven Yeun quit; Lewis Pullman stepped in As Sentry and later emphasized a miracle in messaging. Pullman is just as good as the character, so it’s a good choice. None of this is immersed in the movie, but the interlaced schedule can passivate the dynamics and messy pre-release chats.
No one in Disney might want to face the failure of the movie and Thunder and lightning* and everything related to everything that happened before. Disney has been releasing insulting Marvel movies and TV products for years, losing the trust of its audience. By the time the lightning arrived at the theater, Marvel burned so many people for a long time that people were ready to hate it. So hate them doing it.
Once you lose the trust of your audience, you won’t be back to the same state. Combining it with overall superhero fatigue inevitably haunts this type and Thunder and lightning* Never had a chance.
To be fair, there is no superhero movie that has a chance in this environment. Another big superhero release from Disney,,,,, Fantastic Four: Step One It performed better when it was released in the summer. The only superhero movie that can turn to profit is the biggest brand –The names are Superman and Batman. We’ve reached everyone else, no matter how good their movies are, that may require a smaller budget and lower expectations for success.
Thunder*Reden at home
Audiences may not trust Disney enough to waste time going to the cinema to see ticket prices, but good reputation will make them turn on the TV and click on the play button. This is especially true if you don’t spend any money on anything.
At that moment Thunder* Streaming on Disney+ is exactly what the audience does. People adjusted to see if all the positive comments were correct, found out they were, and told their friends.
From the moment of the numbers The film, released on August 27, quickly became Disney+’s most watched movie in the United States, confirming the character-driven tone that will click on the ensemble once the cost barrier drops. Even if it doesn’t rewrite the drama ledger, it’s a reputational victory.
Hopefully this is enough to convince the miracle it should keep moving forward Thunder* direction. Making movies about CGI action sequences and matches to see who can play the most terrifying villain may be their remaining path to success. Thunder and lightning* Point; they just need to accept it.
