section_path: Plot
section_name: Plot
paragraph_text: Plot
  
  In Malaysia, Yelena Belova destroys a laboratory on behalf of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who is desperately cleaning up evidence of her involvement with the O.X.E. Group's "Sentry" superhuman project. As de Fontaine faces imminent impeachment for her work with O.X.E. Group, she separately dispatches mercenaries Yelena, John Walker, Ava Starr, and Antonia Dreykov to a covert O.X.E. facility to kill each other. In the ensuing fight, Ava kills Antonia, and an amnesiac man named Bob is released from a suspended animation pod in the room. After realizing that they were sent by de Fontaine to be incinerated along with any evidence of her misconduct, they work together to escape from the trap. Upon coming into physical contact with Bob, Yelena and Walker briefly experience visions of some of their worst memories.
  
  De Fontaine learns that the group has survived and that Bob was a presumed-dead volunteer in the Sentry trials. When she arrives at the site, Bob creates a diversion by drawing enemy fire, allowing Yelena, Walker, and Ava to escape. Bob sustains no injuries upon being shot, then uncontrollably ascends into the air before crash-landing back at the compound, where he is captured and transported to the former Avengers Tower in Manhattan, now renamed the "Watchtower". De Fontaine intends to introduce Bob to the press as a super-powered protector akin to the Avengers, hoping the PR stunt will avert her impeachment. Meanwhile, Alexei Shostakov, who had overheard details of de Fontaine's plot while working as a freelance chauffeur, rescues Yelena, Walker, and Ava. Alexei refers to the group as the " Thunderbolts ", in reference to a soccer team Yelena played on in her childhood.
  
  De Fontaine's agents pursue the Thunderbolts before they are ultimately apprehended by Congressman Bucky Barnes, who intends to have them testify in the impeachment proceedings. Upon learning that Bob was a subject of one of de Fontaine's top-secret experiments, Barnes joins the group to head to New York to infiltrate the Watchtower. The Thunderbolts discover that de Fontaine has convinced Bob to join her side. Under de Fontaine's orders, Bob easily overpowers the Thunderbolts but allows them to retreat, deeming them no longer a threat. Bob develops a god-like delusion of superiority and turns on de Fontaine, whose assistant Mel incapacitates Bob with a failsafe kill switch. This triggers the emergence of the Void, Bob's destructive alter ego and the embodiment of his depression and insecurities created as a result of the procedure and his already fractured psyche, who begins engulfing New York City in supernatural darkness, trapping its citizens in pocket dimensions.
  
  Realizing the only way to stop the Void is from within, Yelena enters the darkness to reach Bob's consciousness. There, she faces her haunted past as a Black Widow and finds Bob hiding in a recreation of his childhood bedroom, where he hid from his father's abuse. The other Thunderbolts join them, and together they travel back to the memory of Bob's initial experimentation in Malaysia, where he volunteered for the procedure, hoping to improve himself after becoming an aimless drug addict. The Thunderbolts confront the Void, but are swiftly overpowered. As the struggle threatens to fully consume Bob, the team intervenes, affirming their belief in him. Their solidarity empowers Bob to regain control, overcoming the Void as light returns to the city and the victims are freed.
  
  With the threat neutralized, the Thunderbolts prepare to apprehend de Fontaine, but she manipulates public perception by staging a press conference in which she introduces them to the public as the New Avengers, while crediting herself. The Thunderbolts go along, but Yelena quietly tells de Fontaine, "we own you now". In a post-credits scene, the New Avengers and Bob discuss the recent feud with Sam Wilson over the Avengers and to sue the team for trademark infringement, along with an ongoing problem in outer space, when they receive a distress signal from an extra-dimensional spacecraft with a large "4" emblem.
  
  In Malaysia, Yelena Belova destroys a laboratory on behalf of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who is desperately cleaning up evidence of her involvement with the O.X.E. Group's "Sentry" superhuman project. As de Fontaine faces imminent impeachment for her work with O.X.E. Group, she separately dispatches mercenaries Yelena, John Walker, Ava Starr, and Antonia Dreykov to a covert O.X.E. facility to kill each other. In the ensuing fight, Ava kills Antonia, and an amnesiac man named Bob is released from a suspended animation pod in the room. After realizing that they were sent by de Fontaine to be incinerated along with any evidence of her misconduct, they work together to escape from the trap. Upon coming into physical contact with Bob, Yelena and Walker briefly experience visions of some of their worst memories.
  
  De Fontaine learns that the group has survived and that Bob was a presumed-dead volunteer in the Sentry trials. When she arrives at the site, Bob creates a diversion by drawing enemy fire, allowing Yelena, Walker, and Ava to escape. Bob sustains no injuries upon being shot, then uncontrollably ascends into the air before crash-landing back at the compound, where he is captured and transported to the former Avengers Tower in Manhattan, now renamed the "Watchtower". De Fontaine intends to introduce Bob to the press as a super-powered protector akin to the Avengers, hoping the PR stunt will avert her impeachment. Meanwhile, Alexei Shostakov, who had overheard details of de Fontaine's plot while working as a freelance chauffeur, rescues Yelena, Walker, and Ava. Alexei refers to the group as the " Thunderbolts ", in reference to a soccer team Yelena played on in her childhood.
  
  De Fontaine's agents pursue the Thunderbolts before they are ultimately apprehended by Congressman Bucky Barnes, who intends to have them testify in the impeachment proceedings. Upon learning that Bob was a subject of one of de Fontaine's top-secret experiments, Barnes joins the group to head to New York to infiltrate the Watchtower. The Thunderbolts discover that de Fontaine has convinced Bob to join her side. Under de Fontaine's orders, Bob easily overpowers the Thunderbolts but allows them to retreat, deeming them no longer a threat. Bob develops a god-like delusion of superiority and turns on de Fontaine, whose assistant Mel incapacitates Bob with a failsafe kill switch. This triggers the emergence of the Void, Bob's destructive alter ego and the embodiment of his depression and insecurities created as a result of the procedure and his already fractured psyche, who begins engulfing New York City in supernatural darkness, trapping its citizens in pocket dimensions.
  
  Realizing the only way to stop the Void is from within, Yelena enters the darkness to reach Bob's consciousness. There, she faces her haunted past as a Black Widow and finds Bob hiding in a recreation of his childhood bedroom, where he hid from his father's abuse. The other Thunderbolts join them, and together they travel back to the memory of Bob's initial experimentation in Malaysia, where he volunteered for the procedure, hoping to improve himself after becoming an aimless drug addict. The Thunderbolts confront the Void, but are swiftly overpowered. As the struggle threatens to fully consume Bob, the team intervenes, affirming their belief in him. Their solidarity empowers Bob to regain control, overcoming the Void as light returns to the city and the victims are freed.
  
  With the threat neutralized, the Thunderbolts prepare to apprehend de Fontaine, but she manipulates public perception by staging a press conference in which she introduces them to the public as the New Avengers, while crediting herself. The Thunderbolts go along, but Yelena quietly tells de Fontaine, "we own you now". In a post-credits scene, the New Avengers and Bob discuss the recent feud with Sam Wilson over the Avengers and to sue the team for trademark infringement, along with an ongoing problem in outer space, when they receive a distress signal from an extra-dimensional spacecraft with a large "4" emblem.