Is The Thunderbolts Appropriate for Kids

A lot of cursing, a lot of fighting, a lot of guns, many deaths, and a lot of fun. That’s how I’ve been describing Marvel’s The Thunderbolts.

Marvel’s latest movie, The Thunderbolts is a fun, action-packed movie that brings the feels. A group of loners must come together to save the world, or everyone will perish in a dark and depressing manner.

Many movies have been made about bringing together people that don’t have a place and must work together. Sometimes those movies knock it out of the park, and sometimes it’s a miss. With Thunderbolts, it’s a home run.

Thunderbolts is more than a “blow things up” type of superhero movie. It’s about battling inner demons, overcoming the past, and being alone isn’t the way. Every character in the movie has something to overcome and the acting by the performers is fantastic. Most notable, Florence Pugh’s portrayal of Yelena Bolova is award nomination worthy.

In the film, Vallentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, faces impeachment for a wide variety of illegal activity. While trying to destroy information that could lead to her being impeached, she attempts to eliminate the people who helped her out. In doing so, those “lose ends” band together. As in all superhero movies, the story is more complex than that and a new character, Bob, comes into play. Bob isn’t all that he seems to be, and the heroes must decide if he is a friend or foe.

But, let’s get into why you’re reading this in the first place. Is The Thunderbolts movie appropriate for kids?

Thunderbolts is rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.

If your kids have watched other Marvel movies and were fine, then Thunderbolts should be okay for them. I took my 10-year-old daughter along to watch with my 13-year-old and I and she liked the movie. There is a lot of swearing and a lot of deaths. The fighting is intense, and there is a scary scene with Bob’s character. That scene I’m talking about has been shown on tv during commercials. A child is shot in the movie and that might be heavy for some children to watch. There’s also portrayal of family physical abuse.

Here are similar movies:
Swearing: Similar to Guardians of the Galaxy.
Sex: None.
Similar to the Captain America movies.
Similar to Avengers End Game.

Overall, I think The Thunderbolts is a great movie and superhero fans will love it. If you have a sensitive viewer, then sit it out or wait till you can stream it. The scenes with Sentry/Bob are intense and might upset some viewers.