Despite dropping a significant amount in one day, Thunderbolts*‘ Rotten Tomatoes score still breaks MCU records. Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* wraps up the MCU’s Phase 5 and sets the stage for an exciting Phase 6. Phase 5 has been a particularly rough patch for the MCU, as the franchise reached new box office lows with movies such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Captain America: Brave New World. Fortunately, Phase 5 seems to be on track to redeem itself with its last installment.

Two days before its worldwide release date, Thunderbolts* holds a critics score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, seven points below its 95% debut score. At 95%, Thunderbolts*‘ debut Tomatometer score stood only one point below the highest-rated MCU movie of all time, Black Panther, which still boasts a 96% critics score. At 88%, Thunderbolts* currently stands below Doctor Strange (89%) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (87%). Despite the drop, Thunderbolts* is still Certified Fresh.

What The Thunderbolts* Rotten Tomatoes Score Means

Thunderbolts*’ Rotten Tomatoes Debut Score Is A Feat In An Of Itself

Rotten Tomatoes scores tend to fluctuate the most throughout each movie’s first couple of weeks, but Phase 5 movies have struggled to increase their critics score after their release. For instance, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 debuted at 81% and remains at 82%, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine debuted at 79% and remains at 78%, and Captain America: Brave New World debuted at 48% and holds the exact same score. While this trend signified bad news for movies like Captain America: Brave New World and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it suggests Thunderbolts*‘ seven-point drop likely doesn’t entail a bigger decline anytime soon.

Debuting at 95% isn’t a feat many MCU projects achieve. On the small screen, Daredevil: Born Again holds an 87% critics score after debuting with a 78% score, and Agatha All Along holds an 84% score after debuting with a 76%. The only Phase 5 тιтle to surpᴀss Thunderbolts*‘ Tomatometer is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which debuted with an incredible 100% and currently holds a 97% critics score.

Our Take On The Thunderbolts* Rotten Tomatoes Score

Thunderbolts*’ Positive Reception Is Good News For Phase 6

The long-awaited The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars follow Thunderbolts*‘ closure of Phase 5. With expectations rising, the last thing Marvel Studios needs before Phase 6 begins is a negative reaction to Phase 5’s final installment. Fortunately, Thunderbolts* delivers a solid standalone movie that can be enjoyed completely on its own, but simultaneously lays the foundations for future crossovers. This may be exactly what Phase 5 lacked, at least since 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

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