It’s a time of great peril in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world’s biggest film franchise has struggled ever since Avengers: Endgame, a fact highlighted by March’s Captain America: Brave New World.

"Thunderbolts*," starring Florence Pugh and in theaters Friday, repeats familiar beats from superior "Avengers" movies, but past results prove no guarantee of future performance.

Florence Pugh leads a crew of scrappy misfits. It’s a familiar premise, “Suicide Squad” did the same thing, but here it works.