I did not have high hopes for Thunderbolts*, the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For one … it’s the MCU. Marvel Studios, once a cultural juggernaut, has been on a downward spiral for years, coughing up movies and television series that have ranged from underwhelming to laughably terrible. The recent Captain America: Brave New World, featuring an awful-looking CGI Harrison Ford, was a nadir.