The asterisk in the title is to remind us the Thunderbolt collective only exists as a placeholder for the squeaky-clean Avengers

“Thunderbolts,” about a group of MCU rejects who band together after CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine ( Julia Louis-Dreyfus ) tries to erase them and their covert program, is both a return to form for Marvel and something a little different. While there’s plenty of franchise building going on, “Thunderbolts” is pleasantly standalone.

Alison Willmore of Vulture writes, " Thunderbolts*, which is miraculously a pretty good movie, proves that a collection of superhero C-listers can carry the day so long as the actors playing them are good and given something to work with."