While superhero films are typically about good guys, the Marvel movie Thunderbolts is an exception. It features a group of characters who fall into what the director calls the “grey areas.” In an interview with Empire, director Jake Schreier explained the complexity of these characters.
“You’re talking about a group of characters that have done a lot of bad things, and maybe are struggling with feeling good about themselves,” the filmmaker said. However, the director noted that the film “has an element that does speak to mental health, and loneliness.” He shared, “And how some of the darkness that we experience in our lives can’t be necessarily fixed, but can only really be made lighter through connection and finding others.”
Regarding the lessons he learned from making the film, Jake said, “There are so many things that I didn’t know about before I started the film.” The most significant learning curve for him was managing “the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes.” The director noted, “And how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff.” He concluded, “By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, ‘Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.'”
Describing the unique experience, Jake added, “(On Thunderbolts) we’re in the middle of nowhere in Utah, in a gorgeous location, owning a road, and filming in 100-degree heat.” He also mentioned, “Or finding yourself on the second-tallest building in the world. These are very special experiences.” The director ended by stating that the film is now streaming on Disney+.
