Source: The Guardian 2024.09.27
Can Marvel’s Thunderbolts* avoid the mistakes of DC’s Suicide Squad?
The trouble with Thunderbolts* is that this is a superhero team made up almost entirely of all those Marvel characters you had completely forgotten existed. Not the cool ones who get their own Funko Pops. We’re talking about the B-team – the backup Avengers. The ones who showed up to the superhero cookout but left before anyone got to taste the chimichangas.
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It recalls DC’s unfortunate Suicide Squad (2016), which brought us a host of antiheroes nobody had ever heard of and expected them to pack out the multiplexes. This despite Will Smith playing an assassin who’s more used to discussing his feelings over a smoothie than actually killing anyone, and the debatable merits of Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress and her remarkable perfection of the art of evil voodoo ballet.
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For me, one difference is… Suicide Squad (I think even The Suicide Squad 2), were mostly all-new even unknown characters from the get-go, even included some as outright fodder. While Thunderbolts members were already introduced and seen prior to live-action films and shows. Hence the latter has that advantage, the members already have their previous character journeys. There’s already connection and familiarity with the audience, and perhaps even already gained fandom and admiration before their eventual team up as the Thunderbolts*.