Thunderbolts*

image for Thunderbolts*

Short takes

Not suitable under 14; parental guidance to 15 (violence, themes, coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Thunderbolts*
  • a review of Thunderbolts* completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 6 May 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 14 Not suitable due to violence, themes and coarse language.
Children aged 14–15 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and coarse language.
Children aged 16 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Thunderbolts*
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, violence and coarse language
Length: 127 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is sent on a mission to destroy critical evidence against Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who is facing an impeachment trial as director of the CIA. There, Yelena meets ex-Captain America John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Additionally, they meet an amnesiac and mentally unstable man named Bob (Lewis Pullman), who is unsure how he got there. After a brief fight, they realise that they are the evidence that Valentina wants to dispose of and decide to team up to take her down.

As they try to escape, the group is caught by Valentina and her soldiers. Bob sacrifices himself so the group can get away. He miraculously survives being shot but is captured by Valentina. It turns out Bob was the subject of human testing to create a superhero and Valentina convinces him to take up this mantle, becoming the Sentry.

Alongside Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), the escapees form a ragtag group they call the ‘Thunderbolts’ and set out to rescue Bob. Unfortunately, Bob’s mental health struggles overtake his superhuman form and he transforms into the ‘Void’. The Thunderbolts try to fight the Void with force but come to realise the only way to battle mental health is through support and belief in each other.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Crime; Alcohol dependence; Death; Family breakdown; War; Mental health.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Yelena fights a bodyguard and knocks him unconscious with a punch to the face.
  • Yelena fights a scientist who shoots himself in the head while trying to hit Yelena, who has him in a chokehold from behind.
  • Yelena blows up a laboratory situated within a multistorey building.
  • Yelena fights some of the future Thunderbolts, with weapons, including guns, and shields used. Taskmaster is shot in the head by Ghost and dies.
  • Valentina orders the killing of the Thunderbolts and tries to incinerate them in a vault.
  • In a flashback, Yelena witnesses a girl from her childhood get shot in the head by an older man.
  • American soldiers open fire at Bob, aiming to kill, though he is unharmed due to his superpowers.
  • Alexi throws a Molotov cocktail at an American armoured vehicle.
  • Bucky uses explosives to blow up multiple armoured vehicles, before overturning the limousine the Thunderbolts are driving. He apprehends them, typing them up to restrain their movement.
  • The Thunderbolts drive a vehicle through the side of a building where Bob is being held. They fight the soldiers stationed there, punching, kicking, whipping and stunning them.
  • The Thunderbolts fight Bob (now the Sentry). He overpowers them, throwing them against walls and ceilings as they attempt to shoot and stab him.
  • Valentina’s assistant activates a kill switch to kill Bob, but it fails.
  • Bob becomes the ‘Void’. He begins by ‘voiding’ (essentially erasing a person from existence) soldiers, before ‘voiding’ civilians, including children. Finally, he begins sending out a shadow of void across the city, erasing anyone caught within its radius.
  • The Thunderbolts fight the Void inside the ‘dark realm’ (a physical manifestation of Bob’s inner darkness). They are unable to defeat him with force, instead, supporting Bob to realise he doesn’t have to fight his mental battles alone.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Yelena jumps off a building before opening a parachute.
  • Bob falls from the sky and creates a large blast as he hits the ground.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Wheeties
  • Cheerios
  • Almond Breeze
  • Chex
  • Tide
  • Xbox
  • Barbasol.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Alexi and Yelena share a drink, possibly whiskey.
  • Alexi takes a swig from a vodka bottle before using it as a Molotov cocktail.
  • In a flashback, we see Yelena passed out from drinking alcohol.
  • Valentina drinks champagne during a political gala.
  • Bob tells the Thunderbolts he was a meth addict.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Asshole
  • Dicks
  • Shit
  • Stupid
  • Oh God
  • Bitch.

In a nutshell

Thunderbolts* is the latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The action-comedy movie brings in an anti-hero cast from multiple shows and movies, including Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Due to the violence, themes, and coarse language, the movie is best suited to viewers over 15, with parental guidance recommended for 14 and 15 year olds.

Thunderbolts* main villain is a personification of mental health struggles, and the themes of the film consequently revolve around this concept. The film asserts that mental health is not something that you can ignore, repress, or handle on your own. Anyone can be a superhero by supporting and helping the people around you.

There is also a secondary message surrounding the idea of ‘goodness’. The movie suggests that a person is not set to be good or evil, nor defined by their past actions. It is never too late to change and be the best person you can be.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Family
  • Perseverance
  • Support
  • Empathy.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The movie does not shy away from the dark sides of mental health and addiction, or their interplay. Parents could open dialogue about what to do if you are struggling, or how to identify and help family and friends who may need support.