“Thunderbolts*”: An entertaining guide to dealing with guilt

When Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019, it represented the end of an era for Marvel films. And, in many ways, the studio has struggled to find anything resembling that success in the years since. There have been some occasional hits, but nothing to really convince audiences to reinvest in the characters and stories that redefined superhero movies for more than a decade. 

While Thunderbolts* is unlikely to change that, it did feel like a welcome return to much of what made those stories great. The blend of humor, action, and interesting characters made for a fun experience at a time when Marvel has too often forgotten that their films are meant to be fun. 

That said, what stood out most upon leaving the theater was the way they managed to address some genuinely deep and profound themes along the way. And it did so without the movie ever feeling preachy, which was perhaps the most notable departure from the studio’s recent attempts to address social and cultural problems.

Can the good ever make up for the bad?

Thunderbolts* revolves largely around the story of side characters with a dark past from a variety of recent films and TV shows coming together to stand against Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the shady CIA director who hired them to perform a variety of off-book black ops for her personal benefit. While some of the characters had history together before joining forces, the only thing that they really have in common is a past filled with failed expectations and regrets.

What really sets this film apart, though, is that it doesn’t use the darkness and isolation each character feels as a story-prop but, instead, as a tool to ask the very real question of how do you deal with a past you regret when it feels like no amount of good can ever make up for the bad? 

Toward the start of the film, one of the characters responds to that question by saying you just have to push it down until the pain goes away. Watching each of the heroes come to realize the inadequacy of that response is what drives the story, and the end result is a powerful call for us to take a better approach to that problem in our lives as well. 

When God will not give us peace

Again, a big part of what makes Thunderbolts* work is that it manages to get its message across without being preachy. That’s important because, for difficult issues like grief and guilt, the problem is seldom a lack of information or guidance on what needs to be done. Rather, the motivation to try is where we tend to fall short, and that push often has to come from accepting that truth on our own rather than being repeatedly hit over the head with it. 

Fortunately, if you’re a Christian, this is where the Holy Spirit can help.

While there are certainly times when God slaps us upside the head with the truth we need to hear, most of the time, he at least starts with a gentler approach. Whether it’s a general sense of unease or a thought that we just can’t seem to let go of, the Spirit will often move in our lives in ways that prevent us from finding the kind of peace that Scripture says should be available to us when we’re right with God (Philippians 4:7). In such cases, a lack of peace can be the first sign that there’s something we need to address.

However, adequately addressing the mistakes of our past requires more than simply admitting we messed up and trying to do better. It requires genuine repentance and an acceptance of God’s forgiveness, and this is one area where Thunderbolts* comes up a bit short.

You are more than your mistakes

It should not come as a surprise that a Marvel film would fail to fully explore the necessity of accepting God’s forgiveness. After all, their universe is filled with “gods” but leaves little room for the true God. That’s not a critique, but it is a necessary backdrop for understanding just how much truth we should expect to find. 

However, the limitations inherent to the fictional film’s plot do mirror the limitations inherent to a reality in which God is neither a focus nor a factor in many people’s lives. Trying to move past our guilt by accepting our mistakes and then striving to find peace in a new purpose really is the best our world can offer. And the degree to which that falls short of the true peace we can find in God can present some of our best opportunities to share the gospel. 

For that to happen, though, we must model that peace in our own lives first. 

That means learning to give our past to God and truly accept that, through his grace, we are no longer identified by our sins and failures. And while God’s forgiveness does not always remove the temporal consequences of our sins, he does offer us the freedom to no longer be shackled by them. 

So, regardless of whether you see Thunderbolts*, please don’t let another day pass without accepting God’s offer of forgiveness and embracing that freedom from your past. 

In Christ, you can be more than the sum of your mistakes. 

Where do you need that reminder today?