Thunderbolts*: Here's what the characters saw in the Void, and why

Thunderbolts*, whose other title can be discovered right here, explores difficult themes like mental health, loneliness, and bipolar disorder. Bob, the MCU's new kid, has been transformed into a superhero by the mysterious organization O.X.E. But the experiment had a disastrous consequence: the creation of the Sentry is linked to that of the Void, his depressive and super-powered alter-ego prey to extreme torment. The latter appears when the character's morale is at its lowest, and deploys around him a darkness, the Void, which "swallows" its victims... Including Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, John Walker, Yelena Belova, and Bob himself. Below, discover the explanation for the nightmarish visions of their past in which they found themselves trapped.

#1 Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

As her name suggests, the director of the CIA is of Italian origin, and her time in the Void is tangible proof of this. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine finds herself projected into the past, when she was only a little girl, and she has just to unknowingly invite her father's future murderer. The girl is frightened, and while the assassin knocks on the front door, she remains hidden behind a staircase. This scene is not really explained, but it helps explain the hard and implacable character of this businesswoman, who must feel guilty about her father's death... And now prefers to protect herself by attacking first.

#2 John Walker

The failed "Captain America", who first appeared on screen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, is not a man of Steve Rogers' caliber. After searching for Bob several times, the latter sends him into the Void, where he relives a humiliating scene from his past. His wife, Olivia, asks him to watch over their baby, but U.S. Agent is more interested in what the press is saying about him, namely accusatory articles. While he lies to his teammates, claiming to have an ideal family life even though his wife left him, this sequence shows him in a new light, that of a wounded and ashamed but touching man.

#3 Yelena Belova

Natasha Romanoff's sister experiences several very different sequences in the Void. She's even the Thunderbolts member who spends the most time there. The first scene shows her performing her first task within the Red Room program: she leads her friend Anya to her death in a dark, snowy forest. The second scene shows her and her comrades sitting at a table, assembling a weapon as quickly as possible. As the first to finish, she will be the only one spared the whipping administered by the "professor." The third and final scene shows her passed out drunk, holding a bottle of vodka. Yelena Belova is haunted by her deathly past, in which she was forced to commit horrific crimes to survive, and by the pain caused by her sister's death. She drowns her loneliness in work, but it makes her sink even deeper...

#4 Bob

Bob's traumatic past explains the emergence of his alter-ego, the Void. When Yelena goes looking for him in the Void, she discovers him in the "quietest" room in her mind, from which we can nevertheless hear his parents arguing from the kitchen. His father threatens his mother, then him, and the sounds of blows are heard. The little boy tries to defend his mother, but she accuses him of "making the situation worse," further aggravating the situation for the child. Later, we see the young man's descent into hell, then addicted to drugs, disguised as a chicken and addicted to meth. Finally, the last scene shows him during the process of transforming into a superhero, during which he already transforms into the Void for the first time. Two black silhouettes of what are presumed to be scientists are around him, carried away into the Void... It is thanks to the efforts of the Thunderbolts, united and welded to his side, that he will manage to escape his dark side after this scene. The Void was already frightening in Thunderbolts, but when you discover the terrifying power it could have in the future, you will realize that this was only the beginning...