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You might’ve gone to watch Thunderbolts* expecting explosions, trauma-laced banter, and a gritty team-up of Marvel’s most morally murky misfits—but what you probably didn’t expect was a stealthy Black Mirror reunion hidden in plain sight. Tucked between the chaos and character arcs, two familiar faces from one of the anthology’s most haunting episodes resurface in the MCU, and almost nobody’s talking about it. It's barely a blink-and-miss nod, but still worth noting.
Buried under all the tropes of multiverse chaos, trauma-bait powers, and morally gray anti-heroes is a surprising connection to one of Black Mirror’s most disturbing episodes: "Playtest". Yep, we are talking about the psychological horror mind trip from Season 3 starring Wyatt Russell and Hannah John-Kamen, who are now reuniting for Thunderbolts* as members of the new Avengers team.
In Playtest, Russell plays Cooper, an American backpacker who signs up for a secretive VR gaming experiment that quickly spirals into a tech-fueled nightmare. He then connects with a charming British gamer/journalist played by John Kamen. Their chemistry in the episode is electric, funny, flirty, and later, horrifying.
Fast forward to Thunderbolts*, and both actors are back on screen together in the Marvel sandbox. Russell reprises his role as John Walker aka U.S. Agent, while John-Kamen returns as Ava Starr aka Ghost. Considering how Black Mirror built such a twisted, intimate storyline around their characters, the potential here practically writes itself: a darker, layered dynamic between two of Marvel’s most complex anti-heroes. Although the film explores much less of their dynamic and it's mostly just harmless banter, there's still potential for more as they return for Avengers: Doomsday as part of the New Avengers. The best we can hope for is that Starr gets more screen time this time as we take a deeper look into her backstory and Walker's shield gets its shape again.
How is Thunderbolts* performing in theaters?
Thunderbolts* has been killing it at the box office, as it opened with a $74.3 million in the domestic market and $86.1 million from international markets for a total of $160.4 million globally. For its second week run, the film brought in $33.1 million in the domestic market and $34 million in international markets over the second weekend for a worldwide gross of $272.2 million
As for reviews, it is receiving mostly positive reviews, with an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from Cinema Score. Among others, Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman's performances have stood out to fans, as the former will now lead the team of New Avengers and the latter...well, we'll see.
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Thunderbolts* is the last film in the MCU's fifth phase and seals the deal with a sneak peek into the sixth phase's opening film Fantastic Four: First Steps, which comes out on 25 July 2025.
Thunderbolts* is now in theaters.
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