Thunderbolts earns better-than-expected buzz

Marvel’s Thunderbolts* looked like the kind of MCU release that could get shrugged off fast — recognizable brand, less-recognizable team, and a fan base trained to expect disappointment. But the movie’s first two weekends changed the tone. The opening wasn’t gigantic, yet it was solid, and the hold in weekend two was much better than several recent Marvel stumbles. Basically, the story is no longer “another weak Marvel launch.” It’s “this one may actually have legs.” ### Was the opening actually good? Good by old Avengers standards? No. Good for this movie? Pretty clearly yes. Thunderbolts* opened to about $76 million domestically and roughly $162 million worldwide, which put it closer to Shang-Chi than to Marvel’s more alarming recent underperformers. For a film built around side characters and antiheroes rather than top-tier MCU anchors, that gave Disney a decent starting point instead of a crisis. (deadline.com) ### Why were expectations so mixed? Because Marvel’s recent track record made everyone nervous. Captain America: Brave New World opened higher, but then dropped hard. The Marvels and Quantumania also taught people not to trust opening-weekend headlines on their own. So Thunderbolts* didn’t need a record — it needed proof that audiences liked it enough to keep showing up after Friday night. (deadline.com) ### Did people actually like it? More than a lot of recent MCU movies, yes. Critics pushed the film to an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score, which put it among Marvel’s best-reviewed post-Endgame releases, and audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore. That combo matters because it usually signals the movie is landing with both the people who see everything opening night and the broader crowd that comes later. (deadline.com) ### What happened in weekend two? This is where the “better-than-expected buzz” story really kicks in. Thunderbolts* fell about 55% in its second domestic weekend, landing around $33 million. That’s still a drop — every big blockbuster drops — but it’s a much healthier one than Brave New World’s 68%, Quantumania’s 70%, The Marvels’ 78%, and Thor: Love and Thunder’s 67%. In box-office terms, that’s the difference between a movie people sampled and a movie people recommended. (editorial.rottentomatoes.com) ### So is this a hit? That depends on what standard you use. It is not shaping up to be one of Marvel’s monster earners. But it is doing something the studio badly needed — showing that a smaller-scale MCU movie with less famous characters can still generate strong word of mouth and avoid the franchise’s recent front-loaded collapse pattern. Through its second weekend, it had reached about $272 million worldwide. (deadline.com) ### Why is Florence Pugh part of this story? Because the movie seems to have found a center of gravity. A lot of the positive reaction circles back to Yelena Belova and to the cast chemistry more broadly — Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, and Lewis Pullman in particular. That matters because Marvel has spent years trying to sell universe maintenance when what people actually respond to is character attachment. (deadline.com) ### Is the online reappraisal the main driver? Probably not the main driver — but it helps. The bigger engine is the old-fashioned one: decent opening, strong reviews, good exits, then a second weekend that says the audience chatter is real. Creator praise and “best Marvel movie in a while” posts amplify that feeling, but the box office hold is the cleaner proof. (rogerebert.com) ### Bottom line Thunderbolts* did not become an instant MCU juggernaut. But it did something more useful for Marvel right now — it gave the studio evidence that audiences will still reward a movie that feels tighter, better reviewed, and more human than the recent assembly-line entries. (editorial.rottentomatoes.com) (forbes.com)