Thunderbolts* - Marvel does Peer Support now?

Warning, light spoilers ahead for Thunderbolts*

I finally caught Thunderbolts* this week and was caught off guard by what I experienced.

Moving beyond what's been dubbed the "Marvel Formula," Thunderbolts offers more than the usual blend of high-stakes action and dark-humored anti-heroism. Beneath the combat choreography and cinematic flair lies something far more emotionally resonant: a nuanced, surprisingly grounded reflection on trauma, mental health, recovery, and the healing power of human connection.

Feel the Thunder

While the characters themselves don’t initially suggest any metaphor for peer support, their emotional arcs feel strikingly familiar to anyone who has walked the path of recovery, navigated mental health struggles, or supported someone who has. The film centers not on polished protagonists, but on wounded, often volatile individuals trying to manage their internal chaos while learning to trust a team—one built not on hierarchy, but on shared experience. That dynamic is the essence of peer support.

As a longtime comic book geek (yes, I’ll proudly own that label) and someone with a little experience in peer services, I was struck by how the film portrays the complexities of healing. Redemption isn’t presented as a clean or linear process, it’s messy, communal, grounded in mutual understanding, trial and error, and persistence in the face of deep self-doubt.

The ending is both emotionally satisfying and thematically significant. It reinforces what many of us in the peer and human services field already know: healing doesn’t require perfection, sometimes only presence. And that presence, when grounded in lived experience, is one of the most powerful forms of support we have.

Whether intentional or not, Thunderbolts feels like an unknowing fan letter to the peer support and recovery coach movement. It proves that mainstream narratives—yes, even Phase 5 comic book blockbusters, are beginning to reflect that mental health and recovery isn’t binary, but a spectrum best navigated with connection and compassion.

This film wears the mask of genre entertainment, but its heart beats in rhythm with every moment we choose to stay in connection rather than walk away.

This blog was AI assisted with ChatGPT.