Our monthly round-up of the hottest entertainment releases. This month: Marvel’s answer to Suicide Squad, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s latest collaboration, and more.

Movies

Thunderbolts*

Within a few years, we’ve gone from superhero exhaustion to superhero drought. Last year, only one MCU film, Deadpool & Wolverine, was released, owing to the Hollywood strikes in 2023. This year, it’s back to business as usual. We’ve already had Captain America: Brave New World in February. In May, we get the long-awaited Thunderbolts*.

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In Thunderbolts*, a motley crew of villains and antiheroes are forced by CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to work together on a deadly mission. The team — if you can even call them that — comprises Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker/US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Bob/Sentry (Lewis Pullman), Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

Why the asterisk in the title? On the movie poster, the asterisk points to fine print at the bottom: “*The Avengers are not available”. Guess this group will have to do.

Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad, this movie unites characters who have appeared in previous MCU movies and TV series, including Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. You could say these are the MCU’s ‘B-list’ (or is it D-list?) roster, but that’s precisely their appeal: their scrappy, underdog charm — something even the movie’s title winks at. Fans can look forward to the anarchic and idiosyncratic dynamics they’ll have together.

The Amateur

Oscar winner Rami Malek might seem like an unlikely action hero but underestimate him at your own peril. In this spy thriller, he plays Charles ‘Charlie’ Heller, a mild-mannered CIA cryptographer whose wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) dies in a terror attack in London. When his superiors drag their feet on following leads and investigating further, Charlie becomes consumed by vengeance, taking matters into his own hands. He blackmails his boss so he can be trained by Colonel Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) to hunt down the terrorists who killed his wife.

The Amateur is the second film adaptation of Robert Littell’s 1981 novel of the same name; the first was released in 1981 and starred John Savage as the protagonist. This remake gives the source material a slick, modern, high-tech update, with shades of the Jason Bourne and John Wick franchises thrown in. And Malek fans will find similarities between Charlie and Elliot Alderson, the hacker character Malek played to Emmy-winning success in Mr. Robot.

Sinners

The latest entrant into the vampire-movie genre is an original story from writer-director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther). Set in 1930s Mississippi, which was rife with racial prejudice, Sinners combine sly political commentary, supernatural elements, and winning tunes. Fans of the TV adaptation of Lovecraft Country will find parallels between the HBO series and this period horror flick.

Michael B. Jordan, Coogler’s longtime muse, does double duty as a pair of twins returning to the South after some time in gang-ridden Chicago. They want to start anew and plan to open a nightclub, but a supernatural evil is waiting to welcome them back.

The whole movie, which is reminiscent of the cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn, takes place over one day, including its action-packed third act.

While Coogler’s attempt at adding a musical bit to vampire lore feels a bit shoehorned, Sinners still offers all the pleasures of a quintessential vampire movie: violence, gore, supernatural suspense, and biting — pun fully intended — social commentary.

TV

Hacks S4

The beloved HBO hit is back for a fourth season, and so are its odd-couple leads, Deborah Vance (Fargo’s Jean Smart) and her assistant Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). Deborah is a veteran comedian whose career begins to stagnate. Enter Ava, a troubled young comedy writer who desperately needs a job. Their manager, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), set them up to partner with each other.

In Hacks Season 1, the two often clashed. Deborah, hailing from the old guard of comedy and its take-no-prisoners attitude to the craft, was abrasive and blunt. Ava, on the other hand, was a millennial attuned to social and political sensitivities — what young people call ‘woke’.

Dysfunctional though their relationship may be, Deborah eventually grows fond of her reluctant protege, who is eager to break into the industry. The end of Season 3 saw both comedians ascend in their careers. In Season 4, tensions rise as Deborah and Ava endeavour to get their late-night show off the ground and make history doing it. Can their friendship survive the coming storm?

The Last of Us S2

Adapted from the hit video game of the same name, 2023’s The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a disastrous viral outbreak originating from the Cordyceps fungus has resulted in most humans becoming mindless zombie-like creatures. Season 1 received overwhelming critical acclaim and has since been cited as proof that video game adaptations can be good.

The second season of the show, which is based on the sequel game, The Last of Us Part II, is set around four years after the first season. Season 1 ended with Joel (Pedro Pascal) coming to view Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as a surrogate daughter; he saves her life but commits murder and deceives her in the process, straining their bond. Season 2 takes the relationship between the protagonist duo into even more complicated territory.

Now, Ellie also has to face off against Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a Washington Liberation Front soldier who targets Joel to avenge her father’s death.

Andor S2

Released in 2022, the first season of Star Wars spinoff series Andor became one of the most acclaimed entries in the franchise in recent memory. It garnered praise for its narrative complexity, mature themes, and sophisticated dialogue, surpassing expectations for a Star Wars spinoff.

Now, it is back for a second season. Set five years before Rogue One and the original 1977 Star Wars movie, Andor stars Diego Luna as the eponymous Rebel spy. Season 2, which comprises 12 episodes, is divided into four three-episode-long blocks, each covering a few days in one year. The final block dovetails into Rogue One.

Season 2 sees tensions mount as the galaxy heads towards all-out war and Andor embarks on increasingly riskier missions. The show continues to explore the inner workings of the formidable Empire and the scrappy Rebel Alliance from a ground-level perspective, lending urgency to the political conflict. Season 2 also expands the story’s scope and creates stronger ties to the larger Star Wars galaxy while retaining Season 1’s serious tone.