Jono's quick spoiler-free take on THUNDERBOLTS

Contrary to popular opinion, there have been quite a few good Marvel projects since ENDGAME. Quite a few duds as well, that's fair But none of them have pointed the entire MCU in an exciting new direction... until now.

For the first two acts THUNDERBOLTS plays like Marvel's answer to DC's SUICIDE SQUAD. It's better than that sounds, but it's still just another "fine" Marvel entry to that point. Nothing to shout about from the rooftops. I was wondering what all the hype was about.

But then the third act happens. No spoilers, but suffice to say it is dark, it is beautiful, and it is uplifting and transcendent in ways that only stories that go to those dark places first can achieve.

Anyone who has wrestled with depression, loneliness, bipolar, self-loathing, abuse, or emptiness will find much to attach to here.

Weirdly, my kids were super into it. It's not a cotton candy superhero movie, but it never lost them.

I will watch anything with Florence Pugh in it. Ditto Sebastian Stan. Ditto David Harbour. They are all great in this.

We're dealing with bottom-of-the-barrel characters here. No big names that sell toys. So, wisely, the filmmakers lean into building those characters into people we come to care about by the end of the film. Which bodes well for Marvel's future.

Best of all, it doesn't feel like it's chasing the glory of the MCU's past. Instead, it's creating something new.

Rewatching BLACK WIDOW and FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER wouldn't be a bad idea, but also the film gives you enough context cues that if you don't remember any of that, it'll come back to you or you will learn it here for the first time.

This is going to make one heck of an episode for us, mark my words.

If you saw it, what were your general thoughts? No spoilers.