
Thunderbolts: 2 surprising twists
From Story Nerd by Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis
April 22, 2026 · 44 min · Season 17 · Episode 1708
About this episode
The episode discusses surprising twists in the movie Thunderbolts, focusing on character roles and the impact of switching the villain.
In a twist that no one saw coming, not even us, the villains in this movie are Val and Mel! Despite this, I thought Thunderbolts would be better. :( However, the constant characters in this movie support a protagonist with a change arc, and fill archetypal roles in the movie. In another surprising twist - switching the villain in the end of the movie has a big impact on the effectiveness of the speech in praise of the villain. This episode has more twists and and turns than the MCU - and that is saying something! -M
People in this episode
Hosts: Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis
Topics covered
- movie analysis
- storytelling
- character development
- twists
- villains
Keywords
- Thunderbolts
- twists
- villains
- character arc
- MCU
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: MCU
Books & works: Thunderbolts
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