Do You Need a Team of Superheroes to Battle Mental Illness?

Thunderbolts – a Movie Review

Last Friday, my husband and I went to the theatre and watched a movie on the big screen for the first time in nearly a year. “Deadpool & Wolverine” was the last movie we saw in the theatre. Full disclosure, I’m a huge fangirl for Deadpool, going back to the comic books in the (cough) previous century. That was before I knew he and I shared similar superpowers – a sarcastic mouth that won’t quit and a penchant for coming back from the dead.

Deadpool bobblehead who stands guard atop my writing desk.

On this visit, my husband and I watched “The Thunderbolts.” Yes, it’s another Marvel movie, but it’s not all about superheroes. In fact, there are no superheroes involved. These guys are anti-heroes, which is my personal favorite. I don’t want to watch super-virtuous Captain America and his flawless Paladin code of honor. My favorite Avenger was always the Black Widow.

I know you’re thinking, “Of course you liked her. She’s the only woman and you’re a woman.” Yeah, no. It’s because she was a deeply flawed character. She was woman living with self-doubt and self-recrimination. She wanted to “settle her ledger” and leave her memory as being a better person than she used to be. Her aspiration to be a better person hits a note with me, but her death is what really sealed her fate as being better than the other Avengers.

Photo by Robert Torres on Unsplash

After witnessing her death in “End Game,” I was furious. Natasha sacrificed herself to get the Soul Stone, thereby enabling the rest of the Avengers to ultimately save half the universe, but aside from Bruce Banner reacting with – surprise! – anger, nobody gave a shit. Tony Stark died from doing the final snap – enabled by her sacrifice – and everyone in the MCU came to his elaborate funeral. I wrote a mini essay about my anger over this disparity. If I can find it, I will post it later. Nat deserved better.

The “Black Widow” movie was supposed to be her origin story, possibly a conciliation prize for her exit from the MCU, but it came out during the peak of the pandemic and went straight to streaming. Although I enjoyed seeing more of her backstory, the unexpected highlight of the film was her little sister, Yelena. She was just as bad-ass as her big sister, but she had more personality. Black Widow was much more buttoned up, taking care of business.

“Thunderbolts” gives us much more of Yelena. She stood out as the star of the movie, along with Bob. Wait, who’s Bob?

Bob’s alter-ego is Sentry, apparently some mega-awesome powerful superhero. My husband, the comic book collector, could fill you in on so much geeky background stuff, but I’m giving you the basics. Bob was given an upgraded version of the super-soldier serum and turned into a super-duper hero. That’s Sentry. But the movie isn’t about Sentry. It’s about Bob.

What About Bob?

There was a funny movie in the previous century called “What About Bob?” It is described as a 1991 comedy film starring Bill Murray as a mentally unstable patient who follows his therapist on vacation. Hilarity ensues. This movie came to my mind as I watched Bob interact with Yelena.

Without giving away too much of the story for those of you who might want to see it, I will summarize in more or less vague terms. When Bob meets Yelena, we learn that he doesn’t know who he is or how he got there. He is suffering from some sort of amnesia, or dissociative state. Yelena is kind and reassuring to him as he struggles with his anxiety and uncertainty.

Bob’s file as a serum test subject states that he swings between extremes of very low moods and peaks of grandiosity. Pop that into any search engine and it will result in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. We find out that Bob struggles with mental health issues which led him to sign up for the super-soldier experiment in hopes of finding a cure for his persistent lack of self-worth.

Later in the movie, Bob appears to experience dissociative identity disorder, splitting off his depressive self into a separate being called The Void. The Void is not particularly evil, violent, or cruel. The Void simply asserts something that everyone who has struggled with depression has thought, “There is no escape from the Darkness. Sooner or later, it will win.”

Bob, transformed into the Void, weaponizes depression and spreads it like a contagion. Yelena, along with the rest of the Thunderbolts, reaches out to Bob and shows him that he is not alone. With her support, he is able to defeat the Void and escape the Darkness.

As expected of a superhero movie, Thunderbolts has the requisite amount of battle scenes, explosions, and powers, but it showcases the greatest superpower of all – compassion. Yelena’s act of caring about Bob saved him and, in turn, saved the world.

This is a superhero movie in which we learn that everyone possesses the power to save others. If we all try, we can save the world. Thunderbolts is the first superhero movie aimed at battling an indestructible foe that threatens more lives than Thanos. Depression kills.

The Thunderbolts assembled to battle mental illness and teach us all that compassion, empathy, and love are the greatest superpowers in the universe.

Still, it would be pretty awesome to be able to fly.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Exercise your superpowers and reach out to a friend or loved one today. You never know who is struggling and needs your support.

“Thunderbolts” is still showing this week. Grab your loved ones, share a bucket of popcorn, and enjoy the rare feel-good movie that’s still packed with the action sequences audiences crave.

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