Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 21, 2025

Since the cat is out of the veritable bag as to what that supposedly enigmatic asterisk in this film's title refers to, it is not exactly a spoiler to mention the seemingly unavoidable coda "sting" Thunderbolts* offers after its closing credits roll ends, wherein Alexei Shostakov AKA Red Guardian (there's a lot of AKA in the MCU, of course) tries to encourage the so-called "New Avengers" to spell their "brand name" with a closing "z" instead of an "s" to avoid any copyright issues with that pesky Sam Wilson of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Captain America: Brave New World. Red Guardian's suggestion sets up frankly one of the goofier closing discussions in any Marvel Cinematic Universe outing, one which at least gives way to a reveal of an incoming threat (or at least apparent crossover opportunity) to set up the also seemingly unavoidable sequel (you expected anything less?). That said, the whole copyright discussion may comically at least subliminally evoke memories that when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the original Avengers team in comic book form in 1963 there may have already been a bit of a "copyright" issue (if titles could be copyrighted, which they can't), since television's The Avengers had already been airing since January 1961, albeit in its native United Kingdom (the U.S. airings didn't begin until 1966). Some curmudgeons (ahem) might look at all of this "repackaging" of a venerable franchise name and, with both the Patrick Macnee series and especially previous MCU Avengers features in mind, therefore argued that considering the MCU's penchant for revisiting ideas and even substantial plot tropes over and over (and over) again, Red Guardian might have been better advised to have added several z's at the end of the team moniker. With tongue hopefully obviously planted firmly in cheek, that would have resulted in "Avengerzzz", meaning this particular effort might understandably have evoked nothing more than a yawn and "been there, seen that" since it admittedly reenvisions a number of general outlines seen in other "ragtag superhero team" outings. Perhaps surprisingly, then, Thunderbolts* manages to deliver some at least passable character development and some fun plotting even with an also somewhat surprising lack of overwhelming "science fiction" blandishments like nonstop CGI.

The film's often off kilter sense of humor is revealed in its opening vignette, arguably the most spectacular moment of the entire story. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) offers voiceover describing the character's psychological unraveling after the events depicted in Black Widow, and when it's revealed Yelena is actually sitting dangling over the edge of and then standing on top of a 118 story skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, it seems like she's about to commit suicide. She does in fact just kind of fall limply off the building, perhaps elevating fears for a moment, but then it turns out she's actually "base jumping" to a nearby mission, where her comically bored narration continues as actual imagery imparts Yelena taking out a variety of nemeses in a hallway and, later, a laboratory.

It of course turns out that Yelena is doing yeoman's duty for none other than Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, once again cos playing at least in terms of hairstyle as another "de", Cruella de Vil). Valentina is in considerable hot water with the feds, or at least with Congress, and she's desperately trying to clean up any evidence of her genetic research, and while she had initially dispatched Yelena to take out that aforementioned lab, as Valentina's fortunes grow more perilous, the only solution for this kind of cartoon villainness seems to be have the Thunderbolts kill each other. That finally gets Yelena, John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) and Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) in the same (isolated) location, where at least most of them "meet cute" (kind of, anyway) with a character initially introduced as Bob (Lewis Pullman). Suffice it to say Bob has what contemporary mental health experts might call dissociative identity disorder, which plays into much of the rest of the film.

What's kind of refreshing about Thunderbolts* is that it is in essence a "charater(s) piece", largely unreliant on whiz bang special effects and instead exploring ideas of isolation, especially for those already feeling like they're outcasts. Yes, of course it's the same fodder that has informed any number (a rather vast number) of other MCU properties, but especially given the gravitas of the characterizations by Pugh and Pullman in particular, Thunderbolts* manages to deliver what many superhero opuses tend to, well, fly right past: some honest emotion. There's an especially effective scene late in the film between daughter Yelena and dad Alexei (David Harbour) which rather interestingly and saliently unfolds during what might otherwise be a standard set piece.

Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Thunderbolts* is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and Marvel Studios with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Arri Alexas (seen clearly in some of the candid footage included in the supplements) and finished at 4K (according to the IMDb), this is another fantastic looking presentation from this particular consortium, though as mentioned above the film itself is not a carnival ride of CGI and nonstop special effects. That may actually help to promote a more consistent perception of detail levels, since so much of the film is practical, and the 4K version can see some noticeable upticks in fine detail on elements of everything from the rubbery surface of Sentry's suit to the barren scrub in my birth state of Utah. While detail levels are excellent throughout, this is another 4K UHD release where it may be the palette which provides the most immediate eye candy, and the HDR / Dolby Vision grades add some rather nice luster throughout, as well as aiding in shadow detail in several dark scenes. This 4K UHD tends to skew blues just ever so slightly toward green to my eyes when compared to the great looking 1080 version, as in the opening scenes. Later, when things shift to Congress (and later in several scenes featuring either Bucky or Valentina), there's a really interesting "combo platter" of what I'd call peach, orange and sepia which has some beautiful highlights less visible in the 1080 version. There's more content in the same general peach category with the yellows featured in the first interaction between Bob and Valentina, which of course presages his Sentry suit later in the film. Several quick moments of red are also noticeably more suffused in the 4K version, and also kind of interestingly the final climactic scenes have a rather nicely almost monochromatic look, with an emphasis on grayscale. One of the recurrent CGI effects, the "anti-Bob" (so to speak) is probably even spookier in this version, with a jet black body illuminated by two pin pricks of light where the eyes are.

Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Thunderbolts* features a Dolby Atmos track on this disc, as opposed to the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track on the 1080 disc, and there are some clear uses of the Atmos speakers from the get go on this version, which in more than one way probably elevate it more than usual from a "standard" 7.1 surround track. The background wind as Yelena's narration begins is noticeably overhead in this version, and there are several other moments throughout the story, as in Bob's first "eruption" into the clouds, and later when The Void hovers in midair where verticality is noticeable. Otherwise, this Atmos track takes all of the positives of the 1080 7.1 version and delivers consistent engagement of all the side and rear channels for both ambient environmental effects and scoring. All of this said, as discussed above, this isn't the nonstop array of effects laden vignettes that can inform other MCU properties, and so this track is at times relatively subtle in what it offers in terms of surround "showiness". Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K Disc

• Audio Commentary by Director Jake Schreier

1080 Disc

• Around the World and Back Again (HD; 9:13) is a frankly astounding piece proving Florence Pugh was indeed on top of that skyscraper and did in fact jump off.


• Assembling a Team to Remember (HD; 7:29) has more behind the scenes footage while introducing the "new" team.


• All About Bob, Sentry & The Void (HD; 10:36) looks at the iterations played by Pullman.


• Gag Reel (HD; 3:00)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 00:56)


• Audio Commentary by Director Jake Schreier

Additionally a digital copy is included. Disney sent their 4K SteelBook edition for purposes of this review, but it looks like this standard packaging release features a slipcover.

Thunderbolts* 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The apparently inexhaustible minds behind the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe keep finding little nooks and crannies to explore, and if those explorations can understandably seem rote at times, Thunderbolts* has a couple of undeniable positives going for it, including winning performances and what to these tired critical eyes was a refreshing lack of nonstop VFX wonderment. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.