Thunderbolts*‘ box office was somehow beaten at the box office by a worse version of the story from DC, despite the latter’s 26% Rotten Tomatoes score. In terms of critical reception, Thunderbolts* is one of the highest-ranked Marvel movies in years. The film was beloved by fans and critics alike, with the well-received ending of Thunderbolts* solidifying this.
Regardless of how well-liked Thunderbolts* was, however, the film has undoubtedly disappointed Marvel Studios in other ways. The film adequately set up the story of Avengers: Doomsday, but failed to capture the hearts of broader audiences. Appreciation for the setup of upcoming Marvel movies aside, the sad fact is that not many people saw it, allowing a much worse version of the story from DC to outperform it.
Thunderbolts* Was Essentially Marvel’s Version Of The Suicide Squad
The Concept Was Very Similar
Firstly, it is worth exploring the similarities between the MCU movie and the DC version, Suicide Squad. DC has made two movies with this concept: 2016’s Suicide Squad and 2021’s The Suicide Squad. The concept is fairly self-explanatory by the тιтle: a team of expendable, not necessarily heroic, characters is ᴀssembled for a dangerous mission.
This mission is one that you would not see the likes of the Justice League tackle, leading to the Suicide Squad being used instead. Where the Thunderbolts* movie is concerned, there are many similarities to this concept. For one, the team members of the Thunderbolts answer to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who acts somewhat similarly to DC’s Amanda Waller.
This makes them expendable, with Thunderbolts*’ first act exploring Val’s willingness to kill each member of the team…
The characters ᴀssembled, such as Yelena, John Walker, and Ghost, all consider themselves to be bad people. All have done less-than-heroic things in the MCU, much like the members of the Suicide Squad typically have. Similarly, this makes them expendable, with Thunderbolts*’ first act exploring Val’s willingness to kill each member of the team that eventually forms.
Finally, these characters – alongside Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, and the powerful hero Sentry – teaming up to face a greater threat emulates the plot of both DC Suicide Squad movies. Therefore, Thunderbolts* solidified itself as another version of this only on the Marvel side of things; Thunderbolts* was beloved, but it somehow failed commercially compared to one of its lesser counterparts.
I Can’t Believe 2016’s Suicide Squad Mᴀssively Outperformed Thunderbolts*
2016’s Suicide Squad Was Not A Good Movie, But That Didn’t Stop Its Success
The movie in question is the 2016 version of Suicide Squad. This movie had a great deal of hype surrounding it in 2016, thanks to its stacked cast and excellent marketing campaign, but the movie disappointed many upon release. Suicide Squad is largely considered one of the worst-ranked DCEU movies, with its Rotten Tomatoes scores exemplifying this.
|
Movie |
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Suicide Squad |
26% |
58% |
Thunderbolts*, on the other hand, was a much better version of the story. That film holds a critical approval rating of 88%, with its audience approval rating sitting at 93%. This is a vast improvement over Suicide Squad, which only makes the fact that the DC movie grossly outperformed the Marvel movie at the worldwide box office all the more surprising.
- Suicide Squad worldwide box office total: $749.2 million
- Thunderbolts* worldwide box office total: $381 million
To make matters worse for Thunderbolts*, the film had a budget of $180 million, meaning it barely broke even. Suicide Squad was produced on a cheaper $175 million budget, almost doubling Thunderbolts*‘ box office total. The love for the latter was not enough to see it resonate with wider global audiences, which Suicide Squad, despite the poor reviews, somehow achieved.
2016’s Suicide Squad Somehow Beat Another Better Version Of The Film At The Box Office
The Improved Version Of The Film Still Failed Commercially
If Suicide Squad‘s box office dominance over Thunderbolts* wasn’t shocking enough, the film managed to achieve the same feat over yet another better version of it. 2021 saw DC release The Suicide Squad by James Gunn, currently the overseer of all upcoming DC movies. This movie was a much-improved version of the 2016 film, factoring into Gunn’s ascendance to DC Studios’ chief.
The Suicide Squad received significantly better reviews than Suicide Squad from both audiences and critics. The former holds critical and audience Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% and 82% respectively, leaning much closer to Thunderbolts*‘ success than Suicide Squad‘s failure. Despite that, The Suicide Squad still couldn’t knock 2016’s version off the top spot at the box office.
The Suicide Squad was the worst-performing of the bunch commercially, earning only $168 million globally. Against a $185 million budget, the commercial failure of the 2021 film is evident. The point of all this, though, is to say that a film being well-crafted and beloved does not give it any right to success, as evidenced by 2016’s Suicide Squad.
Why 2016’s Suicide Squad Outperformed Both Thunderbolts* & 2021’s The Suicide Squad
2016’s Version Had A Lot Going For It
The question that remains when taking into account Suicide Squad‘s inferior critical/audience reception but superior box office is why it outgrossed The Suicide Squad and Thunderbolts*. At the time, the DCEU movie timeline was arguably at its peak, with many looking forward to Justice League only a year later. Naturally, this caused a lot of pre-release excitement.
To further boost this excitement, Suicide Squad was led by two box office stars in Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Combined with excellent marketing, from expertly cut trailers with killer soundtracks to strong press coverage, Suicide Squad became a box office success. The trailers clearly did not reflect the final product, though, explaining Suicide Squad‘s poor reviews.
The Suicide Squad had similar prospects boosting it in 2021, but the main killer of this movie’s box office was COVID-19. The movie was released at a time when the pandemic was still raging, meaning it was also available to stream the same day of its theatrical release. Excellent reviews aside, no movie would have performed well commercially in this scenario.
Finally, Thunderbolts* simply suffered from the MCU’s recent woes. Despite being considered a return to form for the franchise, no one can deny that the MCU does not have the pull it once did. Moreover, Thunderbolts*’ cast of characters only includes a few big MCU hitters, such as Bucky. The retrospective тιтle of *The New Avengers didn’t help things, either.
Despite the ending and post-credit scene of Thunderbolts* solidifying the team as the new version of The Avengers, this name was not utilized in any pre-release marketing. This meant that Marvel Studios did not capitalize on The Avengers’ brand until after everyone who wished to see the movie had already seen it. Sadly, this caused Thunderbolts* to fail.
For these reasons, Suicide Squad reigns supreme. There is no argument over which movie is the best between it, its 2021 sequel, and Thunderbolts*. Nonetheless, neither The Suicide Squad nor Thunderbolts* managed to have a bigger cultural impact than a much worse version of the concept, with 2016’s lesser production still standing tall commercially.
