Why is “Thunderbolts*” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive and drug references.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few hugs for comfort, a child being shot by a man off-screen, a man being shot in the chest as his daughter watches, numerous fights between people with superpowers and armed military exchanging punches, kicks, throws and gunfire, vehicles being shot and thrown off a road, vehicles being flipped over, several discussions of creating people with superpowers, several discussions of being alone and depressed, many arguments and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After “The Avengers” are disbanded, the head (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) of a war tech company initiates a program experimenting on humans to create new superheroes. However, she has no idea what she’s up against when a band of anti-heroes stands in her way. Also with Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko, Wendell Pierce, Alexa Swinton and Eric Lange. Directed by Jake Schreier. [Running Time: 2:06]

Thunderbolts* SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman hugs a man in several scenes (to console him).
► A man wears a tank T-shirt and boxer shorts and puts a robe on when his daughter comes to the door (we see his bare shoulders and legs to the upper thighs). A woman wears an off-the-shoulder dress that reveals her bare shoulder. A woman wears a low-cut blouse that reveals cleavage. A man’s super costume accentuates his abdominals, chest and groin area.

Thunderbolts* VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man pins a woman to a wall and wraps a cord around her throat causing her to gasp for air, then pins a man against a wall with a piece of metal that bends around him, and another man is stabbed through the shoulder with a shard of metal and pinned to a wall. A woman with a gun drawn enters a secured area and searches for someone, a man shoots at the woman and they fight: he kicks her and she is thrown across the room, she draws a knife, another person enters and fights with the man with more punching and kicking and it is implied that she is killed (we do not see her again) and another person appears and disappears while joining in the fight and they shoot at each other. An unseen energy flits around people in a room creating heavy winds, a long piece of cloth is wrapped around a woman’s throat and the other end is around a man’s throat (they struggle and gasp for air) and others in the room are blown around as a dark cloud engulfs a city.
► A woman stands on the top of a high-rises building and says, “There’s something wrong with me,” and we hear that her sister died as she steps off the ledge and falls; she deploys a parachute and lands several floors below where she fights with numerous armed security guards that shoot at her and she dispatches them all before shooting the final two. A man punches another man and he is thrown across a room and slams into a wall; he punches and throws several other people, he floats off the ground he throws a woman against the ceiling and throws a man through a window, shattering it, and pulls him back in; a man points a gun at him and the gun glows red-hot. Two men fight with punches and throws and one man pins the other on the floor and punches him in the face repeatedly.
► A man shoots a gun in the air and distracts military personnel away from other people trying to get away; the man is shot many times and we see him thrash and blood spurts before he falls to the ground (he revives and stands up with no visible wounds but blood is still on his shirt). A man holds a gun on a woman and she kicks him, the man drops the gun when the woman hits him, he retrieves the gun and shoots at the woman, hits a man that is bound and gagged (we see blood on his head), and the gunman is shot in the head and falls dead. Flames blow into a room where several people are locked inside; the door is opened and the people are thrown out causing one to hit her head and fall unconscious. A woman fights many armed military personnel and gunfire is exchanged; she lashes a man to her back with a belt and he shoots several people. A man floats off the ground and shoots into the air, passes out and falls back to the ground causing a crater and dust blows around the area and a truck is blown off the road. Four people in a car are shot at by several heavily armed trucks, and the people in the vehicle throw a flaming bottle of liquor that shatters on the hood of one vehicle but quickly extinguishes; one truck is thrown off the road by an explosive, and then another, and the third is flipped on its hood when it is attached to a cable and stops short. An explosive is attached to the back of a limousine and it flips onto its front bumper before landing on its roof. A man speeds a box van through the front of a building where armed guards inside fight with him and several other people in the van using punches, kicks, head-butts and zapping weapons. A woman has a cut on her lip and abrasions on her face in several scenes.
► A woman has a flashback to her youth when she witnessed her father being shot in the chest by another man. A woman has a flashback to her youth and telling a man where another young girl was and the man shoots the child off-screen. A man slams another man against a wall. A man with tape across his mouth and hands bound behind his back sits on the floor where a woman asks him if he can get her past a facial recognition security.
► A helicopter mid-flight crashes into a tall crane and the crane collapses to the ground, a truck nearly hits a woman and another nearly hits a man and a woman and a superhero intervenes in each case. Many armed military personnel enter an area with laser sites glowing, we see several people motionless on the floor (presumably dead) as others enter and throw smoke bombs. Four people struggle to climb a shear wall and one man reaches toward an opening in the wall and grabs for it causing the others to fall; they catch themselves, one person holds onto a rope and they are all helped to safety. Four people are bound and on their knees in a garage. A person dressed as a large yellow bird swings a sign around and hits people with it.
► A woman orders a subordinate to “torch it all” about a place where several people are locked inside as alarms ring and incinerators heat up. A woman says that she was an “enslaved child assassin.” An entire floor of a high-rise building explodes and rubble falls as people on the street run and scream. A man uses his powers to make a glass of water boil, it shatters, and his eyes appear to be glowing slightly. A woman talks about all the terrible things that she has done in her life and all the mistakes she has made.
► A woman argues that a project she has undertaken will produce reliable heroes. People discuss impeachment hearings and troubling allegations. A woman says that she is bored and not focused. A man tells his adult daughter that the light inside her is dim (she seems depressed). A woman talks about the darkness inside and feeling a void. Several people argue and bicker in several scenes. A wife argues with her husband when their child is left crying and the man is not attending to him. A woman talks about a man’s mother’s mental illness and his father’s abuse. A man appears to lose his memory or block painful memories.
► Three people eat something off the ground; we can’t discern if it is the remains of an animal or fruit (it looks red and shiny). A couple of comments are made about a child defecating on the field during a game. A man eats messy food and sauce drips on a white shirt; he takes a mechanical arm out of the dishwasher and reattaches it to his shoulder. We hear the sound of someone gagging and coughing and could be vomiting but we do not see anything. A man brushes his teeth with dish soap and spits in the sink (we see saliva).

Thunderbolts* LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 15 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (dumb, bored, useless, super human monster, partisan waste of time, propaganda, ungrateful, pathetic, ruthless, old Santa, disaster, cocky, criminals, villains, ghost lady, disposable delinquents, B-Vengers, scrappy anti-heroes, boy in the box, Dr. Phil, dime store Captain America, trash, losers, genius, bloody insane, selfish, man boy, tiny [anatomical term deleted]), exclamations (whatever, shut-up, quit it, jeez, oh no), 1 religious profanity (GD), 18 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, my God, Jesus Christ, Jesus, God knows how many, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Thunderbolts* SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man talks about being “meth addicted.” A partially empty bottle of liquor is seen on a table, a man pours two glasses of vodka and drinks one, people drink glasses of champagne at a gala, a woman pours and drinks a glass of champagne, and a woman talks about drinking because of her loneliness.

Thunderbolts* DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Superheroes, anti-heroes, death of a sibling, depression, fulfillment, fame, secret plans, delusions of grandeur, human improvement, Kierkegaard, copyright infringement, human experimentation, true happiness, memory loss.

Thunderbolts* MESSAGE

 – Righteousness without power is just an opinion.