Marvel's Thunderbolts* proves hit at box office

Marvel and Disney's newest release Thunderbolts* has proved a hit at the box office, after taking an estimated $162m (£122m) internationally.

The film, which both production houses hope will kickstart a new franchise, is based around lesser-known superheroes who have to take on human and superhuman threats whilst fighting their own personal battles.

It stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan in two of the main roles, alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Harbour.

Whilst not all critic reviews have been favourable, the movie has been a hit with superhero fans - drawing in an impressive 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

It means the film receives the third highest audience score for a Marvel title, tying with Spider-Man: Far From Home and behind Shangi-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Not all critics have not treated the film as favourably, with Empire's John Nugent noting that the film is "missing a bit of colour - literally, in the washed-out palette and CG shadow-threat that dominates the latter half of the film — and figuratively, in its subject matter".

He adds that the topics covered, including suicide, depression and domestic violence are "not always sensitively handled".

Radheyan Simonpillai at The Guardian gives the film three stars, citing that although the film is "the best thing to come from the brand [Marvel] since WandaVision", "Thunderbolts often irritates because the depression and trauma the movie supposedly grapples with so often lives on the surface".

Simonpillai is full of praise for Pugh though, "who can wrestle sincerity out of a screenplay (and a franchise) that has so little".

However, Clarisse Loughrey from The Independent looks on the film a little more favourably, giving it four stars and calling it "the best Marvel movie in years".

"Thunderbolts does feel different to what's come before.

"It's the first of its kind to seem genuinely self-aware - Thunderbolts might actually then be the ultimate Marvel film for now," she adds.

Audience fatigue when it comes to Marvel films is a genuine concern for the studio, which has been trying to pivot away from the characters from the main Marvel Cinematic Universe since the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

It is perhaps why Deadpool & Wolverine was a big hit for Marvel last summer, as it featured characters that have been less front and centre for them, with Thunderbolts* potentially following a similar path.