Thunderbolts* Has Finally Brought The Villain Redemption Story I’ve Been Hoping For But Convinced Was Unlikely For Almost A Decade

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Thunderbolts*.Thunderbolts* just pulled off a villain redemption story I’d been hoping for not far off a decade to see, despite being convinced it would never happen for several years. The MCU timeline has managed to connect a wide array of stories together over the course of its run, with some narratives tying together in ways you couldn’t have predicted even if you read every comic since the concept of comics first emerged. With that said, though, the sheer scope and scale of the MCU often means that some arcs and stories end up having to be left on the backburner, or forgotten about altogether.

As such, it’s sometimes not totally clear if the franchise is building towards something with some stories, or whether they’ve been necessary sacrifices of sorts for the sake of the wider overarching story – as the fact we’ve been waiting to see if Scorpion will appear in the MCU again after his Spider-Man: Homecoming post-credits tease for 8 years now can attest. That said, Thunderbolts* just revitalized one story I had hoped seemingly against logic would return for some years, and brought with it an arc almost too good to be true prior to the announcement of the film’s cast.

Ghost’s Hero Story Was Teased In 2018, But Nothing Came Of It For 7 Years

Ghost’s MCU debut in Ant-Man & The Wasp was as one of the movie’s antagonists, but one whose actions are clearly the result of desperation versus any genuinely malicious intent. While Ava using her powers to do things like phase her hand halfway through Hank Pym’s head to hold him hostage don’t exactly look heroic, it’s revealed partway through the film that the character is only going to these lengths to try and find a cure for her condition.

As is shown during Ghost’s backstory, one of her father’s experiments gone wrong killed her parents and imbued her with unstable phasing abilities that left her in constant and worsening pain from childhood. Her abilities were utilized by SHIELD, who lied to Ava about looking at creating a cure for her so long as she worked – and killed – for them, which she later realized they did not intend to, after using her powers extensively for them and making her pain and condition far worse as a result.

With Ghost’s efforts motivated by a need to end her suffering, it’s a pleasant moment when the Ant-Man & The Wasp ending provides her some relief rather than killing her off, as Janet van Dyne makes her return and uses some of the quantum energy she’s stored up being in the quantum realm to help stabilize Ava and her powers. The look of relief and graтιтude on Ava’s face makes it clearer than ever that she was never the movie’s real villain, which is reinforced when she asks her adoptive father Bill Foster to leave her to be arrested at the film’s end, only for him to insist on staying.

The Ant-Man & The Wasp post-credits scene shows the movie’s heroes collecting more quantum energy for “their new Ghost friend“, making it look like they could find a way to stabilize or cure her, either of which would draw her into further MCU releases, and allow her to work alongside the MCU’s heroes. As it stands, though, this scene ends with Scott Lang stuck in the Quantum Realm and his family unable to rescue him as they’re all victims of the Snap, meaning we had to deal with Ava’s story being left entirely on the wayside until Thunderbolts* all these years later.

Thunderbolts* Lets Ghost Finally Be A Hero

Thunderbolts* shows Ghost once again operating as an ᴀssᴀssin of sorts, leaving it initially unclear whether the previous signs of her prospective redemption had now disappeared. In spite of Ava killing Taskmaster before understanding Valentina tricked them all into hunting each other, she quickly becomes loyal to the team, with Ghost returning for John Walker, Yelena and Bob more than once after using her powers to help them escape the O.X.E compound, even when it would have been far safer for her to do otherwise, and in fact actively put her further in harm’s way to look out for them.

This is reinforced when – with the team looking about to disband – the Void’s attack breaks out in New York, leading the antiheroes into action. Despite this once again putting her in danger’s way – and her being perfectly capable of using her powers to flee the scene – Ghost instead swoops in to help save civilians and then joins forces with the other Thunderbolts to save Yelena, even though she doesn’t seem entirely sure that delving into the Void’s shadows will actively send them to Yelena instead of just killing them.

All in all, Ghost ends up having some decidedly heroic growth by the movie’s ending, making it feel all the more oddly rewarding when the group become The New Avengers in the Thunderbolts* ending. Given Ghost’s redemption story and hero potential was first set up 7 years ago, it very much ends up feeling well-deserved that she gets to be part of a big hero team – even if the New Avengers may end up losing their name given the Thunderbolts* post-credits scene reveal they are being sued by Sam Wilson.

I Still Almost Can’t Believe We Finally Got To See Ghost Get The Hero Story She Deserved

Ghost’s powers and immense potential for cool action sequences were demonstrated nicely in Ant-Man & The Wasp, but because of the movie’s split focus, we didn’t get as much time to focus on the character’s actual story and motivations, and this ultimately meant Ava Starr’s full potential isn’t seen in the movie. The fact Ant-Man & The Wasp‘s post-credits so strongly teases good things for Ghost’s future before she essentially ceased to exist for the franchise for over half a decade seemed especially unfortunate with this in mind.

Ava Starr/Ghost is also confirmed to appear in the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, letting her hero story expand even further.

Given how many other teases and character arcs have fallen to the wayside for a variety of reasons between then and now – and how much the overall trajectory of the Multiverse Saga has seemed to change over the course of the years we’ve currently been in it – the idea of Ghost returning to the franchise seemed like little more than a pipe dream to me until the character was confirmed to be a part of the Thunderbolts* cast. As such, her now being a founding member of The New Avengers ultimately only feels all the more of a surprising yet very much welcome win.