Thunderbolts*

While we’re still about a year out from the next Avengers instalment, Marvel has a couple of big summer releases this year, beginning with the comedy-infused Thunderbolts. Best thought of as Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad, here we see a gang of unlikely antiheroes rounded up to face a new threat in the absences of the Avengers (hence the asterisk in the title—“the Avengers are not available”).

Right at the outset, we get a dose of said comedy when the Red Guardian (David Harbour) stumbles around his apartment when he realizes his daughter, Yelena, is at the door and not his DoorDash driver. This is accompanied by a soundtrack more appropriate for an epic action sequence, with searing strings and propulsive percussion.

At 0:24 we hear faint electric guitar that could be diegetic, and for keen ears it’s identifiably the guitar riff from the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”; originally released in 1988, it’s since appeared in quite a few films, beginning with 1999’s Fight Club.

As Alexei and Yelena carry on small talk, at 0:43 the song—already faint—is supplanted by a stronger synth tone on a steady beat. This is joined by a simply piano arpeggio as Yelena recounts missing a sense of purpose, and we see a montage of similar moments of disenchantment among other would-be team members, such as John Walker (U.S. Agent). At 1:06 we get a big shift, with an exploding building accompanied by a massive synth chord. At 1:14 we hear a choral version of the song’s signature semitone vocal motif, and in the absence of any other harmony it comes off as sinister.

At 1:25 we hear Black Francis’ vocal, which underpins a chaotic arrangement of synths and percussion which matches the on-screen action as our antiheroes appear to meet for the first time, instinctively fighting at first. We get another comedic break at 1:44 when we meet Bob—seemingly an innocuous and random figure, but who would turn out to be Sentry, a powerful being. The next thirty seconds or so features a collage of unnerving and disquieting sound effects as Yelena and Bob carry on.

At 2:19 the trailerized, epic version of “Where Is My Mind?” re-enters in full force, coinciding with the release date title card, a full-throated action montage, and a monologue by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), bringing a satisfying conclusion to the proceedings as elements of the song (Black Francis singing “where is my mind?” and the semitone vocal motif, for example) become mashed up and repeated nearly beyond recognition.

While a popular (and one might even argue, overused) choice, the variety of ways that “Where Is My Mind?” is suffused throughout the trailer complements the tenor of action and dialogue from moment to moment, successfully enhancing comedic, dramatic, and action-oriented moments as required. Moreover, it emphasized, if not with subtlety, the fact that there is a core psychological drama to the plot, too—can the “bad guys” redeem themselves? What makes a hero or villain? Complicating these ideas in the world of Marvel is an almost surefire way to elicit new interest from a public increasingly tentative about superheroes continuing to saturate theatres.

Thunderbolts* strikes on May 2nd.

— Curtis Perry