Florence Pugh addresses major shift in Marvel’s storytelling

Florence Pugh praised Marvel for its unique and shocking approach while making Thunderbolts*.

The Little Woman actress lauded the production house for bringing mental health and depression under the spotlight through the new hit film.

The film features a dysfunctional team of anti-heroes in a big fight with unstable, villain Sentry/Void "Bob" (Lewis Pullman). However, the battle becomes a side note, as Yelena Belova (Pugh) and her team ends up comforting Bob in the end.

They finish the high-stake fight by giving the unstable villain a hug, other than letting him punch his alter ego into submission.

"Oh my God, it’s massive," Pugh told the Entertainment Weekly. "It’s a hug deal."

Acknowledging Marvel’s efforts, she added, "It's a huge deal that that theme was made with a Marvel budget, and they cared enough about it to make it the main event."

"And that is so important, so important for everybody right now."

For the 2021 Black Widow premiere, the 29-year-old artist felt the same about her debut film. She said that the story was about "girls and women and the control that they were put under."

Pugh found it powerful and looked forward to girls going to cinema and come back "educated and inspired." While having similar hope for Thunderbolts*, Pugh wishes that "both adults and children" recognise themselves, their friends or family in the story.

"It's so wonderful to be able to make a movie for the masses that you know is going to be helpful," Pugh said.

Marvel Thunderbolts* is now running in theatres.