For the first time in a long time, Gobbledygeek dips its beak back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They've done so for a very special film: Jake Schreier's Thunderbolts*, a return to the MCU's past glories with a tale of outcasts looking for something to believe in. Yelena Belova, the Winter Soldier, U.S. Agent, Red Guardian, Ghost, and Taskmaster come together to form a new kind of Avengers team; one formed under the auspices of none other than Elaine Benes. Paul, Arlo, and Eric–our own band of lovable misfits–discuss Florence Pugh's killer performance, the lovable David Harbour, what Thunderbolts* does differently than most recent MCU films, and much, much more.

 

NEXT: we enter VAL-halla for a second Val Kilmer double feature. This time, it's 1986's Tony Scott pro-war classic Top Gun and 1988's Ron Howard (???) Lord of the Rings rip-off, Willow.

 

 

BREAKDOWN

00:00:27  -  Intro / Banter

00:19:43  -  Thunderbolts*

01:59:50  -  Outro / Next

 

LINKS

• 'Thunderbolts*': Marvel's Allegory of Recovery From Trauma by Jessica Schrader, Psychology Today

• The Dark We Dare Not Speak: Thunderbolts* and the Underworld Within by Jason Batt, Joseph Campbell Foundation

• Thunderbolts and The Lost Souls: On Trauma, Meaning, and The Seduction of Modern Nihilism by Azhar Salleh, Traversing Tradition

 

MUSIC

• "Pony" by Ginuwine, Ginuwine…the Bachelor (1996)

• "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, No Protection (1987)

 

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate

• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org

• Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/ 

• National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org

• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/

• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://www.unduemedicaldebt.org/

• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/