We’re welcomed back to the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the new Marvel movie Thunderbolts*. It’s a story of a ragtag group of anti-heroes that must step up in the absence of the Avengers.
Who is in Thunderbolts*? We get the amazing team of:
- Yelena Belova/The New Black Widow (Florence Pugh)
- Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
- Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour)
- John Walker/US Agent (Wyatt Russell)
- Ava Sarr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)
This team of rogues must battle a new threat. One accidentally unleashed when Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to kill each of the anti-heroes. A battle ensues because each member has been hired to kill at least one other member of the team. Robert Reynolds/The Sentry/The Void (Lewis Pullman) was accidentally released from his stasis holding during the fight.
You may not be familiar with The Sentry/The Void. He’s one of the most powerful superheroes in the world. You may even compare him to Superman of DC Comics. Except Sentry comes with a twist. He has a dark side. That dark side is called The Void. The Void is an extreme force for destruction. He can wipe out people with the wave of his hand.
While the Thunderbolts* may not want to work together at the beginning, they become a powerful force to be reckoned with. They understand that together they can be and do more than they thought possible. Their time together changes them.
And it can change the viewer of Thunderbolts*. As you watch Thunderbolts*, be open to seeing the powerful leadership lessons hidden in the movie.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Thunderbolts*
1. Yelena Belova:
There’s something… wrong with me. An emptiness. I thought it started when my sister died, but now it feels like something bigger. Just a… void. Or maybe I’m just bored.
The movie opens with Yelena stating there’s something wrong with her. She felt an immense emptiness inside of her. She’d lost her sister. She’d broken free from the Red Room. Now, she had no purpose. And there was a void inside of her. Or she might just be bored.
Then she jumps off the edge of a building…
There are at least three lessons here. The first:
Watch for a foreshadowing: Yelena’s words foreshadowed the appearance of Sentry’s alternate personality, The Void. It was subtle, but it was there for someone watching the film. Your people give off slight foreshadowing clues by how they talk, act, and respond. Pay attention. You may notice something is a little off.
Loss causes us to feel empty: Yelena had lost her sister Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) in a previous Marvel movie. Natasha was the original Black Widow. Her death has left an empty cavity in Yelena’s life. It left her longing for old times. Have any of your team members experienced a traumatic loss recently? Be hyper-aware of their loss. Pay attention and give them the extra attention they need from you.
Boredom can cause us to do crazy things: At the end of her monologue, Yelena realizes she may just be bored. That’s when she jumps off the building. She needed excitement. The rush of free-falling did it for her, at least for a moment. Boredom can drive us to do things we normally wouldn’t do. We want to be entertained, busy, and on task all the time. Don’t let boredom make you do something you’ll regret.
2. Yelena Belova:
Without purpose, I’m drifting like a river.
Yelena also recognized she no longer had purpose. She wasn’t working for the Red Room anymore. She wasn’t helping people. She was drifting aimlessly.
Yelena wanted more. She wanted to know that what she was doing mattered. What she really wanted was purpose.
The people you’re leading, they’re like Yelena. They desire purpose. They want to know whether what they’re doing matters.
Show them how their work is purposeful. It’s not just a paycheck. It can be fulfilling, rewarding, exciting work.
Lay it out to them. Make them see what their work makes possible
3. Serving brings joy:
Alexei is Yelena and Natasha’s surrogate father. Yelena goes to visit him. She tells him that Valentina had recruited her for a special project. However, Yelena didn’t want the assignment.
Alexei jumps at the opportunity. He tells his daughter that he’s not happy. He’d stopped serving. Serving had brought him joy.
We forget how powerful serving others can be. Serving brings joy.
Find ways to serve those you lead. What can you do to make their lives better?
The more you serve, the more joy you’ll find.
4. You get to choose who you work for:
Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan) is Valentina’s assistant. She works hard for Valentina, but also knows something isn’t right with her. Especially since Valentina is under investigation.
Bucky, who is now a congressman, approaches Mel. He shares about his past. When he was The Winter Soldier, he didn’t have a choice of who he worked for. It was decided for him.
However, he tells Mel that she has a choice of who she works for. She gets to choose whether she works for a good or bad leader. The choice is hers.
You, yes you, get a choice of who you work for. You’re not consigned to work for someone.
If you notice the organization you’re working for no longer aligns with your values, is pushing good people out, or treating people unfairly, you don’t have to work for them any longer.
You get to choose who you work for. Make sure you’re working for good people.
5. Lock arms with one another:
Valentina hired each of the Thunderbolts to “protect” her assets in a secret room. Bob (Robert/Sentry/The Void) is released during the melee. It’s soon after this that they realize they’ve been played. Valentina has set the room to be destroyed.
They escape and get to an elevator shaft. John Walker tries to jump to the top of the shaft. He fails, falls back down, and lands on his back. The skills of the other Thunderbolts* wouldn’t provide any help.
Bob offers a suggestion. They could lock arms, push their backs against each other, and walk up the shaft.
The suggestion worked. They were able to walk up the shaft because they had locked arms with one another.
There’s power in having a good group of people. Learning to lock arms with those people is even more powerful.
Find ways to work together. The stronger your bond, the more you can accomplish.
6. Bucky Barnes:
This is on you, John.
Bucky captures John Walker, Yelena, Alexei, and Ava. He has a plan for them. He’s going to use them against Valentina in her trial.
He sees them as evidence.
One of the things he tells the team is that part of this is on John. It’s a powerful scene and one we can learn from.
Our failures are on us. We’re the leaders. We have to learn to accept responsibility.
For John, it wasn’t being forthright with others. He’d lost his wife and child. They left him. Yet, he continued as if everything was perfect.
Your failures are on you. It’s up to you to own them.
7. Yelena Belova:
You don’t need to do this.
Valentina had learned how to tap into Bob’s dark side. She’d turned him into The Void by feeding him lies.
Yelena is at the old Avengers Tower, which Valentina had taken over, when she sees what Bob is doing. He’s fighting others, turning people into shadows, and more.
Yelena pleaded with Bob. She tells him he doesn’t need to do what he’s doing. He’s better than this.
Great leaders look at the people around them. They see who they truly are. And they begin to speak life into them.
That’s what Yelena tried to do. She knew Bob’s pain. She knew Bob. She knew he could choose not to be a weapon of mass destruction.
Encourage your people. Help them understand the consequences of their actions. Help them understand they have a choice.
8. Alexei Shostakov:
I want to be the one everyone can rely on when they make a mistake.
Yelena had been on a youth soccer team when she was younger. She had chosen to be a goalie.
Why?
Alexei shared what she had said. Yelena wanted to be the one people relied on. She wanted to be the protector.
Whew…
That’s heavy and deep and powerful.
Leaders are goalies. They should be the last line of defense. The one who is there to stop mistakes from getting through.
Be a goalie leader.
9. Yelena Belova:
Even if it doesn’t make the darkness go away, it will make it better.
We discover the Void isn’t killing people. He’s sending them to a universe within him. Yelena willingly lets the Void take her as she walks into his darkness.
Inside, Yelena tracks down Bob. She begins to talk him down.
How?
By admitting she was wrong. She had stuffed down her emotions. She tried to go at things alone. That didn’t make things better.
What made things better was surrounding herself with others.
You need a solid team around you. You can’t lead well alone.
Find people you can be real with. Find people you can count on.
Your darkness may not go away, but it will get better.
10. You can get a new name:
As Thunderbolts* end, we get a little surprise. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a surprise, but we see a change in the Thunderbolts*.
Valentina has one more card up her sleeve. She escapes federal prosecution by announcing she had put together a new team. A new team of Avengers.
The team breaks through a cloth separating them from Valentina. When they do, it’s a press conference. Valentina announces them as the New Avengers.
Have you made mistakes? Felt like you weren’t worthy? Been given names that don’t suit you?
You don’t have to accept the names, the labels given to you. Find ways to change the name you’ve been given.
11. Give people something to look forward to:
There are two end credit scenes in Thunderbolts*. One of those gave people something to look forward to.
We see the Fantastic Four’s space shuttle hurtling toward Earth. The Fantastic Four are now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s exciting.
What can you do to give people something exciting to look forward to? Leaders need to help people become excited about what’s coming.
Do your best to help others have something to look forward to.
