All of us need to be there for each other, that's the message

MOVE OVER, AVENGERS: THERE'S A NEW BAND OF SUPERHEROES IN TOWN. RACHAEL DAVIS HEARS FROM THUNDERBOLTS* STARS INCLUDING FLORENCE PUGH

- RACHAEL DAVIS

SOMETIMES, heroes have to confront the darkest corners of their pasts - or of their minds - to unlock their true potential.

For the band of misfits assembled in Thunderbolts*, the latest installment in the Marvel cinematic franchise, this is especially true.

Make no mistake: this film is still an epic, big-screen adventure, with impressive stunts, awesome fight sequences, and imaginative scene-setting. But at its heart is something deeper, something darker, as the unconventional team of antiheroes - Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker - come together to face the threat of a misunderstood young man with a mind shrouded in shadow.

Leading this addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Florence Pugh, returning as assassin Yelena, a role the Oxford-born Oscar nominee played in 2021 film Black Widow.

When we meet Yelena this time around, she's feeling directionless, lost, and fatally dissatisfied with her life of fighting and killing.

"I was very grateful that the intention... was to actually show the truth of the character... what maybe someone is feeling after all of the trauma that happened to her," says Little Women and Oppenheimer star Florence, 29.

"She's incredibly strong, [but] she's also just so desperate to have a sense of community..."

"Picking up where we left off," she adds, referring to the traumatic events her character has suffered - including the death of her adoptive sister Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) in Avengers: Endgame - "we were able to actually have an argument between a dad and a daughter, but they both get to say to each other: 'You messed up.' 'Well, you messed up too.'