Despite its vast collection of compelling stories, there are times when the modern MCU feels too big for its own good. Between its multiversal subplots, mutant teases,persistent timeline fixes, and at times, uneven character development across multiple projects, it’s no secret thatMarveljustifiably struggles to make all the pieces of its enormous cinematic universe fit together, and so it’s no surprise that one of the studio’s most persistent problems raises questions about the ending of its most recent success,Thunderbolts*. Specifically, after years ofwatching world-ending crises unfold in solo projectswithout, for some reason, the Avengers' intervention, the Void’s (Lewis Pullman) climactic attack on New York City once again begs the question of why New York’s other heroes didn’t help outthe MCU’s newest super team. Thankfully, a member of the film’s creative team has since offered up an insightful explanation for this potential plot hole.
‘Thunderbolts*’ Screenwriter Offers a Good Explanation for Why the Movie’s Climax Doesn’t Include Other Marvel Heroes
Ina recent conversation with Screenrant,Thunderbolts*screenwriterEric Pearsondirectly addressed the absence of New York’s other active heroes in the film’s finale, offering partial clarity for those left wondering about the self-contained battle inside the Void:
I’m going to take the fifth on that one. I haven’t looked at the map closely enough of where it went. I’m not sure if it went to Bleecker Street yet. But I also think that the time of it is happening so much faster than you expect. That expansion and retraction of time is different. As we say in Thor: Ragnarok, ‘Time works real different around here.‘When you’re in the Void Space, who knows how long it’s been? Maybe it’s been one second.
From these remarks, it’s clear that there are two primary reasons we don’t see New York’s other costumed saviors during the climax — geography and time. In the case of the former, Pearson is implying that the Void hadn’t extended its reach to allthe heroes in New York Citybefore being subdued by Bob and the MCU’s newest friend group, meaning someone like Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) or Wong (Benedict Wong) wouldn’t have been able to leave their Sanctum Sanctorum in time to stop it. Likewise, Pearson’s clarification aboutjust how quickly the Void moves meansthat the heroes most likely to be caught in its range, likeTom Holland’sSpider-ManorCharlie Cox’s Daredevil, simplywouldn’t have had the time to react to the crisisbefore it was already resolved.
Overall, this is a satisfying answer to this potential issue because it is both logical and provides a reasonable explanation for the heroes’ absence without compromising their prior power levels or characterization. Given Spider-Man’s spider sense andDaredevil’s heightened senses, it would be hard to argue, for instance, that neither would have been aware of the city’s imminent danger. That said, the fact that Pearson is being vague about which heroes might have slipped into the Void also means some heroes might have experienced their darkest moments just like Yelena’s (Florence Pugh) team, a possibility that has already becomepopular among some fans on social mediasince the film’s release. In other words, Pearson’s response allowsThunderbolts*to continue standing on its own while also leaving the door open for exploring the Void further in the future.
Believe It or Not, Sentry Is Even More Powerful in the Comics Than He Was in ‘Thunderbolts*’
He’s pretty super, man.
‘Thunderbolts*’ Logical Exclusions Marks a Step in the Right Direction for the MCU’s World-Building
In a larger sense, the very fact that Pearson is able to offer a logical explanation for why Earth’s other mighty heroes don’t joinThunderbolts*main fight is a step in the right direction for the sometimes confusing franchise. Aside from the well-documented instances in whichthe Avengers were illogically not presentfor a global catastrophe in someone else’s project — I’m looking at youThor: The Dark World, Eternals,andSecret Invasion— theMCU also struggles with frequent plotholeswhenever it expands its universe to introduce some literally Earth-shattering new piece of information.Thor: Love and Thunder, for instance, introduces the concept of Eternity but never addresses why Thor (Chris Hemsworth) couldn’t have simply made a wish and reversed Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) snap inAvengers: Endgame.As a result, Pearson’s ability to explain why other heroes aren’t able to help the Thunderbolts seems to reflect a creative effort to be more responsible with narrative choices.
Since these contradictory signals in the past have made Marvel’s cinematic universe feel inconsistent and less interconnected,Thunderboltsappears to be turning a corneron bringing the MCU back together again, especially since the film also dedicates a throwaway line to Thaddeus Ross' (Harrison Ford) less-than-glamorous, gamma glow-up inCaptain America: Brave New World. WithAvengers: Doomsdaypromising to once morereshape the broad strokes of the MCU, only time will tell if the writers behind upcoming Marvel projects place a similar emphasis on respecting the boundaries previously set around MCU properties, but if the studio expands uponThunderboltslesson, fans should be able to once more enjoy the seamless, epic storytelling on which the MCU was founded.
Thunderbolts*
