YMMV / Thunderbolts (2012)

• Ass Pull: The Punisher somehow managing to resist the Ghost Rider's penance stare. The reason given for this is apparently because he doesn't feel guilt or regret for the things he's done in the past. However, as any fan of Ghost Rider will tell you, that is not how the penance stare works. The penance stare’s power draws upon the sins of the victim, not their guilt. Basically, it doesn't matter if you feel guilt or not, because if you've commited sins, then the penance stare will hurt you no matter what.
• Broken Base: The general reaction to the announced team was They Changed It, Now It Sucks!, but after some time and a new creative many have warmed up to the team. Although a vocal faction still does wish to see a return to the original Villains forced/attempting to do good or more specifically a return of fan favorites like Zemo, Moonstone, Songbird and etc.
• Funny Moments:
  • The 2013 annual by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker is full of good jokes, including Elsa Bloodstone mistaking Elektra and Deadpool for The White Stripes, The Leader describing his sensors' readout as "They're really calm. They sound insane. Like Kevin Spacey." and a dig at the Shawarma-eating ending of 2012's The Avengers, but special mention should go to this exchange between Venom and Punisher in Jotunheim:
  Punisher: Let's go kill some gods.
  Venom: You can't kill gods.
  Punisher: I can kill whoever I want. I'm the mother ████ing Punisher.

  • Also from the annual: Ross declares they're going to kill Doctor Strange. Venom objects, Deadpool's all too ready to do so... and they're all stopped by The Leader - "We are unable to kill him. He's magic, we're not."
  • In Issue #1, when Ross is recruiting members for the team, all of them are presently busy. Punisher is captured by thugs and preparing to kill them all, Agent Venom is fighting off Somalian insurgents, Elektra is assassinating Afghanistan official, and Deadpool is... fighting and killing a troupe of mimes in France. No explanation is ever given for this.
  • Deadpool states he's a certified notary, and thus can witness the team's contract with Mephisto.
  Mephisto: Fair enough then.

  • The same issue has Johnny Blaze's Ghost Rider grumbling that he deserves the name "Daredevil" since he's a stuntman, and that the Man Without Fear is probably an accountant.
  • In the same conversation, he also brings up that he was in show business for a while, doing some movies. Unfortunately, they sucked.
  • Deadpool hijacks the contract to include a clause that allows him to obtain a new feather for his hat. From the wing of an angel. Which invades Hell through Deadpool's portal along with its comrades.
  • The series makes a subtle joke about the unpopular angel Punisher arc, which Punisher refuses to talk about.
• Moral Event Horizon: Red Hulk crosses it when he tries to murder Punisher just because he quits and gleefully responds to an enraged Elektra, who finds out about it shortly after, that she can't prove it and should be quite before he kills her too. Though it turns out Red Hulk was not the one responsible. He was just too proud to explain himself.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Deadpool finally realizes at the end of the mission to assassinate the Paguero crime family why he's been obsessing over a small pizza place he knows in New York, where the pizza isn't even that good. The Pagueros own the joint and use it as a hide out, and Deadpool recognized the Pagueros from their photos on restaurant's wall. He promptly guns down all three of the family's heads when they stumbled into the joint, casually outdoing years of the Punisher's work.
  • The Leader comes up with a plan to take out the entire team when they're on a road trip in the Battle Van. He borrows a lighter from Ross, then would use his ability to radiate gamma rays to overload and knockout him out. Leader would then the lighter set Deadpool aflame, scaring away the Venom Symbiote, and throw Ross into the blaze, having hidden the fire extinguisher. Finally when the Punisher and Elektra in the front seats are forced to stop and help, Leader would fall out then throw the team's grenades into the blaze. But even more impressively the Leader abandons this plan, as he realizes his dwindling super-intelligence cannot account for every facet of this violent plan nor unpredictable human nature, and that such a plan is worthless if Mercy simply vaporizes him.
  • Trapped in Hell, the Leader draws up an extensive contract with Mephisto to release him and the rest of the team if they help him regain the throne of Hell. He shows his genre-savviness by refusing to agree on the deal with a handshake, knowing that Mephisto would quickly turn an ambiguous deal against them.
    • The outcome of the deal once Mephisto is enthroned is incredible too. Mercy appears in Hell, at which point as Leader predicted she begins annihilating damned souls and ignoring the Thunderbolts. Thanks to a sub-clause in the contract Deadpool retrieves a new feather through an inter-dimensionary portal. However it's soon revealed to be an angel feather, as a horde of angels wielding flaming swords swarm through the portal. Mephisto promptly pledges eternal torture for the Thunderbolts, at which point Leader points to a sub-clause, which ensures that any retaliation would make Leader ruler of Hell. Checkmate. Mephisto gives in and sends them away.
    • Ultimately backfires on Sterns at the end of the series. Mephisto approaches with a new contract in hand while he is trapped in the Penace Stare. He immediately signs it to escape the Stare, and is escorted to Hell where he will suffer all the tortures Mephisto's twisted imagination can fathom.
• Nausea Fuel: Deadpool swimming naked during the Honduras arc.
• Spiritual Successor: To Daniel Way's previously concluded Deadpool run.
• Take That, Scrappy!: The final issue has Deadpool deliver a blistering "Reason You Suck" Speech to Red Hulk and his idea of the Thunderbolts.

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