Posted By Dan Greenfield on May 23, 2025 | 5 comments

FRANCO’s FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS!

By FRANCO

It’s been a few weeks and I feel like I can now talk about the New Avengers movie.

Wait… I mean the Thunderbolts* movie!

WARNING: SPOILER STUFF AHEAD:

First off, the name change. Wild. And I can see how some people may have thought it was spoilery and annoying. But it’s a Marvel movie where you can expect changes to characters so why not movie-title names?

I think it was genius in marketing by changing the name in such a public way: The thought that after the Avengers movies, things have fallen off a bit for Marvel in general. Then thinking about how the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie got so much flak from people before it opened: “No one knows this property.” “No one is going to see this thing, blah blah,” and it got such good word of mouth after hardcore Marvel fans were seeing it.

People may not go see a Thunderbolts* movie but they would go see a New Avengers movie. And those of us in comics, or have read comics, knew the original comic story and the twist that came with the Thunderbolts series about 12 issues into its run. So you had to know that little * at the end of the title HAD to mean something. And it did… for the story and marketing purposes.

Now. The movie itself. I liked it very much. It’s a good movie anchored by women. And none of them are based on their relationship with a man for the course of this story. All of the performances are good, but Florence Pugh is amazing in this! I thought she was good in the Black Widow movie and other Yelena appearances but here she was great. Fight scenes were believable — mostly because they got their asses handed to them a lot, but Pugh’s emotional range made you feel all the feels.

I love a good movie like this. A story that makes you hang in there and wanna find out what happens through the twists and turns. This one was worth it and deserves the New Avengers name. I’m excited for what comes next.

Happy Friday!

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MORE

— Every Time YVONNE CRAIG’s BATGIRL Was on TV It Was a Special Occasion. Click here.

— The All-Time Best Version of WONDER WOMAN. Click here.

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Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners.