With the impending release of Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” this coming weekend, the 2025 summer blockbuster season is finally kicking off, and it’s felt like a particularly long time coming.
Regular readers of this column will remember that I repeatedly lamented the lack of anything like a solid blockbuster summer last year when the fallout of Hollywood strikes left the summer with little more than a few animated sequels, a single superhero comedy, and a certain regrettable tornado movie.
But this season is looking to be as big as ever, with the hotly anticipated final “Mission: Impossible,” an all-original new Pixar offering, the long-awaited “Superman” reboot from James Gunn setting off a new era of DC Comics films, and Marvel finally taking the reins of their own “Fantastic Four.”
Oh, and there’s also another new “Jurassic Park” that no one asked for.
But before we get into the big box office meat of the peak summer season, we’ve got to kick things off big in May, and that means a massive-scale blockbuster actioner alongside a smaller indie take on the fantasy adventure and even an absolutely classic animated action epic.
‘Thunderbolts*’ – Opens wide May 2nd
It’s no secret that Marvel has been in something of a tailspin lately, owing to dwindling fan interest, a handful of interminably convoluted multiverse meanderings, lots of rushed CGI, and a domestic abuse scandal eighty-sixing their next planned “big bad.”
But for every lackluster, underperforming entry like February’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” there’s a smash like last year’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” to keep the wheels turning.
And at the moment, it’s remarkably difficult to know which side of that line will receive the upcoming “Thunderbolts*.”
The story is Marvel’s take on the “Dirty Dozen/Suicide Squad” trope of collecting a handful of villains – or at least anti-heroes – and manipulating them into some shady operations.
In this case, that means bringing back fan-favorite characters Bucky – played by Sebastian Stan, Oscar nominee – and Yelena – played by Florence Pugh, also Oscar-nominee – as well as a host of other throwaway characters mostly pulled from throwaway films like “Black Widow” and “Ant Man & The Wasp.”
The team is tasked with finding and securing a strung-out hero known as Sentry, one of Marvel’s most powerful and intriguing characters, and a likely important piece of the franchise’s puzzle heading into the next big “Avengers” installments.
It all seems simple enough at first, but any comics fan knows that The Thunderbolts were always based on a particularly big, shocking reveal that fundamentally changes the story and the motivations behind it.
Will that reveal, or something like it, play out in the film? Will Marvel pull the rug out from under the audience in a way as glorious and memorable as they did in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier?”
Well, no one knows yet, but Marvel is absolutely insisting that the asterisk after “Thunderbolts” is an official part of the title, and that no one will know exactly why until they see the movie. So there’s something strange going on for sure.
‘Princess Mononoke’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – May 9th through May 11th
It’s easy to argue that no one has ever done cinematic fantasy adventure quite as well as the master, Hayao Miyazaki, and “Princess Mononoke” is surely among his masterpieces.
Miyazaki’s films have been applauded for decades for their lush animation, brilliant structure, and piercingly emotional storytelling, but there are often deeper messages and considerations at stake as well, and they have perhaps never been as pointed or as powerful as in “Mononoke.”
The tale of a young warrior fleeing for safety and seeking revenge against a murderous demon, the heart of the story eventually falls on Mononoke herself, a wolf-riding warrior princess bent on opposing the human-led degradation of the forests.
It’s a sprawling, earth-conscious epic of animated adventure, but more than that, it’s an examination of our own relationship with the earth itself, with the nature that’s being destroyed around us, and with the gods conjured to harness and protect the natural magic of the disappearing forests.
Only Miyazaki could make something so deep, so awe-inspiring, and so rousingly exciting at the same time, and he didn’t need any cheap, AI-generated chicanery to do it.
For showtimes, tickets, and more information, visit okcmoa.com.
‘The Legend of Ochi’ – Now Playing wide; Oklahoma City Museum of Art – May 23rd through June 1st
You know the story: lonely kid discovers a lonely creature, both are scared until they learn to trust one another, and they go on an adventure for the creature to find its home and the kid to find their courage.
It’s an adventure story archetype that can easily be called “The E.T.”
But “The Legend of Ochi” is an A24 film, so you can bet that while the plot might not be new or notable, the filmmaking and presentation likely will be.
In this case, that’s because this family-friendly fantasy adventure of a girl learning to care for one of the nocturnal “Ochi” creatures that she’s been raised to fear is reportedly made with minimal computer-generated effects, showcasing a fantastically modern approach to hands-on creature design and puppeteering.
The result is a beautifully shot, mood-heavy young-adult adventure that immediately harkens back to the most classic kid movies of generations past, and that will likely avoid the unfortunate dating bound to hit the majority of recent family fantasy offerings that rely on of-the-moment effects and references.
And let’s be honest, the little baby “Ochi” is just adorable.
That’s reason enough to see it right there.
For showtimes, tickets, and more information, visit okcmoa.com.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
