Kojima praises Thunderbolts and criticizes confusion of the new Captain America

Hideo Kojima, creator of games like Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, shared his opinion on the new movie from Marvel Studios, Thunderbolts*, and surprised everyone by considering it the best MCU production of 2025 so far — a direct contrast to his previous comment on Captain America: Brave New World.

The comment was posted on May 11th on his Twitter/X account. For Kojima, the movie doesn't follow the common logic of "saving the world from a big villain", but stands out for its more emotional and introspective tone:

“I watched Thunderbolts*. It’s not about eliminating a powerful “external enemy” to save the “world.” It’s about embracing lonely “individuals” and rescuing the “audience” from their own “inner enemies.” A truly “kind-hearted” MCU film.”

Despite praising the screenplay's tone, Kojima also highlighted a particular performance:

“...above all, Florence Pugh was phenomenal.”

Pugh plays Yelena Belova, sister of Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), and her performance seems to have been the personal highlight for Kojima. The cast also includes Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster), Wyatt Russell (John Walker), and Lewis Pullman (Bob). The film is directed by Jake Schreier.

On the other hand, his reaction to the first Marvel film released this year, Captain America: Brave New World, was much less enthusiastic. Kojima confessed to being confused by the plot and the narrative continuity in the Marvel cinematic universe:

“I vaguely remember Sam receiving the shield in Avengers: Endgame, but when did he officially become Captain? I'm mixing it up with the Thunderbolts* trailer too.”

The Japanese director's confusion highlights a recurring issue in the recent phases of the MCU: the excessive reliance on previous series and films for the viewer to understand the current releases. The transition of Sam Wilson to Captain America, for example, was central in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, released in 2021, but not clearly revisited in the new feature film.

Thunderbolts* is already showing in theaters. The production is part of Phase 5 of the MCU and represents the studio's attempt to focus on secondary characters with anti-heroic appeal, in a formula similar to what was seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad.

For those following Hideo Kojima's career, his comments on cinema have become common and often go viral. In recent years, he has become a sort of "informal critic" of Hollywood, especially regarding science fiction and Western pop culture.