After the release of “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, I strongly felt Marvel movies had dwindled in quality. With the exception of the Disney+ shows “WandaVision” and “Moon Knight,” I hadn’t been interested in watching anything Marvel in years.

So when the trailer for “Thunderbolts*” released, I was hesitant to get excited when I had been left disappointed by so many releases in the past few years.

However, it seems like the studio returned to its former heights with it’s newest entry “Thunderbolts*,” released Friday. The film follows a crew of anti-heros from previous marvel installments including Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes “the Winter Soldier” and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow.

Pugh shines as the emotional center of the film, struggling with the grief and burnout of an assassin who is unhappy and unfulfilled by her day job of espionage and covert operations.

The cast is rounded out by Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, David Harbour as Alexei “The Red Guardian” Shostaskov, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava “The Ghost” Starr, and Wyatt Russell as John “U.S. Agent” Walker.

The film also introduces Lewis Pullman to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the amnesiac Robert “Bob” Reynolds.

For some, this movie may not work. Those who are casual fans or haven’t engaged with anything Marvel in the past few years may be left confused by the odd collection of characters or references to an angry red Hulk as the U.S. President.

Or they might have questions as to how a character who was a known hitman for a secret society ended up being a Congressman for the district of Brooklyn.

But for me, the oddness of it worked. These are B-list characters fighting against a force that would have rivaled the likes of the previous Avengers. They’re scrappy, depressed and can’t seem to work together for longer than 20 minutes, but it works.

I have missed the chemistry that once filled the Marvel universe, chemistry that this cast and film delivered.

I left the theater feeling like a kid again, anticipating the next movie and analyzing the references to other future installments and comics. I can only hope I won’t be left disappointed by “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July.

But, considering Pedro Pascal is in it, I’m sure I’ll love it.