Movie Review

Casting is a strong point in latest Marvel film Thunderbolts*

Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, and Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts*.

Photo by Chuck Zlotnick

For the longest time, keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe felt essential for movie lovers, even if not every movie lived up to expectations. But since the end of the MCU’s Phase 3 in 2019 and the ramping up of related TV shows on Disney+, the quality of the films and the disparate nature of the storytelling has vastly brought down how important each new movie felt.

That disposable nature is on full display in the new Thunderbolts* (the asterisk makes sense by the end), which tries to make hay with a bunch of characters who’ve only been seen briefly before. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Ava Starr, aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) are each mercenaries who work for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Caught up in a scandal, de Fontaine attempts to have them eliminate each other, a scheme that results in them teaming up together.

Plans for revenge, which grow to include Yelena’s father Alexei, aka Red Guardian (David Harbour), and now-Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), are waylaid by the presence of Bob (Lewis Pullman), who shows up mysteriously during the main trio’s escape attempt. It’s the powers that Bob displays that become the main thrust of the film, with de Fontaine trying to harness them for her own good and the others joining forces to prevent him from doing too much harm.

Directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Thunderbolts* does what most recent MCU movies have done: intrigue for a while before devolving into a confusing mess of CGI and poor storytelling. The filmmakers try for a light tone, especially through the comedic character of Alexei, but they never seem to find the right wavelength. The film takes a dark turn in its final hour, an interesting development that never reaches its full potential and comes to an abrupt end.

The collection of characters is as random as they come, with Yelena and Alexei last seen together in 2021’s Black Widow, John Walker last seen in the 2021 TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Ghost last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018. Bucky, aka The Winter Soldier, is seemingly meant to be the main connective tissue that casual fans will know and enjoy, but his storyline fails to make sense, especially when he shows up out of nowhere at a crucial point in the film.

Ultimately, the film never makes a case for audiences to care about anything that happens. They throw a bone toward relating it to Captain America: Brave New World, and, of course, hint at upcoming movies, but Phase 5 of the MCU (which started with 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) has been so disjointed that it feels like the majority of it will never be spoken of again. If it doesn’t matter to those making the films, why should the audience invest in anything the characters are doing?

Despite the subpar nature of the film, it’s cast very well. Pugh is a great actor who far outshines anything she’s asked to do. Harbour hams it up amiably, and Russell finds a way to make the most of his character. John-Kamen doesn’t get as much to do as others, but she has a nice presence to her. Pullman (who, weirdly, played another funnily-named Bob in Top Gun: Maverick) has a tricky role, but he makes it work. And Louis-Dreyfus understands how to toe the line between corrupt and wholly evil.

If the next phase of the MCU (which starts with the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps) works, then the movies of the past few years will likely fade into oblivion. In the case of Thunderbolts*, it won’t be a big loss, as it showcases characters paired together for no discernible reason with forgettable results.

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Thunderbolts* opens in theaters on May 2.

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Credit score

Shaquille O'Neal to school SMU students about money before DJing at campus

Courtesy photo

Shaquille O'Neal is going on tour to teach college students about financial credit.

Shaquille O’Neal is going back to school to teach about a subject he now knows well - money. The NBA legend, entrepreneur, philanthropist, sports analyst, and DJ is hitting the road to colleges around the country on a tour called the Credit One Bank Credit Tip Off Tour , starting at SMU’s Moody Coliseum on Monday, September 14.

According to a release, the free event will include a conversation about credit and a live DJ set from O’Neal, better known behind the turntables as DJ Diesel.

But it is not open to the public. Attendance is limited to just 500 enrolled SMU students, who must register for tickets.

O’Neal will be joined at SMU by Credit One Bank Chief Marketing Officer Michael Coleman. Sports creator and host Jenna Bandy will moderate the conversation.

The tour is designed to give college students practical information about building credit and avoiding common mistakes, the release says. Each event will include interactive games and activities before O’Neal takes over as DJ Diesel.

“Credit education isn’t often taught in school, so we built this tour with Shaquille O’Neal to help close that gap and empower young people to make informed credit decisions,” says Michael Coleman, Chief Marketing Officer at Credit One Bank, in the release. “As the brand that believes in forward momentum, we’re meeting students where they are to kick-start their credit education in a memorable, engaging way and help set them up for a successful financial future.”

The tour will address basics such as making payments on time, credit utilization, credit history, and credit mix. It will also feature the Credit Wreckers, a group of characters representing common credit mistakes, including Miss Payment, Max Out, Cancelina, and One Track Jack.

O’Neal says he learned about credit through his own mistakes and hopes to pass those lessons along to younger people.

“I’m always learning, I never stop,” O’Neal says in the release. “I learned credit the hard way. Nobody broke it down for me back then. Now I’ve got kids in college, kids right out of it, and I want them starting smarter than I did. That’s what the Credit One Bank Credit Tip Off Tour is about. And yeah, we’re still going to have fun.”

SMU is a natural place for the tour to start. O’Neal has lived part-time in the Dallas area since 2022, when he bought a $1.2 million Carrollton mansion. He sold it for $1.7 million and moved into his current 5,100 square-foot, approximately $2 million Rockwall County estate in 2024.

Since then, sightings of the megastar abound around Dallas-Fort Worth. In Mesquite in 2024, he treated 20 students to $500 shopping sprees at JCPenney. On another occasion he gave a $500 gift card to a couple he met at Fort Worth’s JCPenney, which they paid forward to children in need. And earlier this year at the Rockwall Target, he distributed $100 bills to shoppers at random. He's also behind the Big Chicken restaurant franchise, whose Fort Worth location recently closed.

In early July, a video of O'Neal cruising a Dallas lake in custom '64 Chevy Impala boat went viral.

After SMU, the tour will head to Georgia State University on October 23, Fred’s Bar in Baton Rouge on November 6, and Florida Atlantic University on November 9.

O’Neal’s tour is being produced by Medium Rare, the team behind events including Shaq’s Fun House, Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam, and Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Fest.

The SMU event is free and open to 500 enrolled students. Registration is available through the Credit Tip Off Tour website.

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