The final act of MCU's most sacred rules, and it genuinely stunned me. After all, until that point, Thunderbolts* had proved that it was unlike other MCU movies in many ways. For example, the fact that Bob was open about his use of meth was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that I had to double-check, proving that drug use isn't a subject purely confined to the frenetic scripts of R-rated projects like Deadpool & Wolverine and that Marvel is happier than ever to deal with heavier subjects.

In fact, the whole motif of Thunderbolts* and its unabashed look at mental health and the truly dark places it can take otherwise relatively lighthearted characters like Yelena threw me off guard. This is largely why the shocking moment in Thunderbolts* that might have been a bridge too far, had it not been redressed a few sequences later.

The Void's First Shadow Power Use Looks For A While Like It Might Have Featured A Fully On-Screen Child Death For The MCU

The Void Turns A Child Into A Shadow

Void turning people into shadows in Thunderbolts* trailer

Marketing for Thunderbolts*, including its more recent trailers, revealed that the main villain would be the ruinous alter-ego of Sentry, the Void. The scenes in which the Void featured showed him extending a hand to transform New York citizens into shadows were shrouded in mystery, but it was certainly reasonable to assume the worst regarding the fates of his victims. The Void is, after all, one of the most murderous entities in Marvel Comics, and it was quickly established even in the lead-up to the release of Thunderbolts* that the titular team would be out of their depth.

In Marvel Comics, the Void kills over one million people in Manhattan, which helped to stoke concerns that he'd be doing the same in Thunderbolts*.

This mystery persisted into the main bulk of the movie, setting up one of the most shocking scenes in the MCU. Just as the Void emerges and begins turning people into shadows, his actions lead to pandemonium on the streets, causing the New Avengers-to-be to get to work rescuing citizens from falling debris and unmanned vehicles. Just as Red Guardian saves a young girl from a falling slab of concrete, he shares a touching moment with her before she, too, is turned into a shadow before his eyes. The moment is rendered even more dreadful by the ominous silence that follows.

Thunderbolts* Quickly Shows That This Isn't The Case For The MCU Movie

The Child, Along With The Rest Of New York, Returns After The Thunderbolts Succeed

While this heart-stopping moment lingered, the heroes began evacuating the streets before Yelena decided to venture into the shadows herself. She had evidently intuited that the Void wasn't necessarily killing these people and recognized that she would have to them and fight the Void from within whatever realm he was banishing them to. Thankfully, Yelena was vindicated by the realm of shame-rooms that, when the Thunderbolts successfully helped Bob to dispel the Void, ejected all occupants back to the material plane, where the young girl could then be seen looking (relatively) unharmed by the ordeal.

Anson Mount as Earth-838's Black Bolt in the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

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While it can be assumed that children aren't impervious in the MCU (many fell victim to the Snap, for instance), these deaths typically happen outside of the audience's view. Even when children do die, Thor: Love and Thunder followed a similar route to Thunderbolts* by depicting the death of Gorr's child, Love, at the beginning of the movie, only to have her resurrected by the end. Evidently, Marvel is aware of the gravitas of such an event and is unlikely to depict such a thing lightly. In fact, Thunderbolts* still got closer than usual for the MCU.

Thunderbolts* Does Still Contain 1 Deeply Tragic Child Death

Yelena's Shame Room Memory Depicts A Gruesome Murder

Young Yelena Belova hides behind a tree in the final Thunderbolts trailer

Although Yelena's stepping into the Void's shadow paid off and helped to ultimately "resurrect" the child who had been banished, she stepped into another deeply tragic scene. Yelena spends much of Thunderbolts* struggling to cope with her past actions as a Black Widow, so it's no surprise that her shame room contained one such action. In it, she relives the memory of her younger years training as a Black Widow, where she lures a young friend, Anya, through some woods towards her death. Although it occurs off-screen, Anya is murdered in cold blood by an adult assassin.

Ultimately, I think Thunderbolts* expertly handled these heavy scenes, making the MCU feel darker than ever.

The shocking moment helps to instill just how dark Yelena's past is for her to feel as depressed as she does in the current day. It also reiterates just how dark and twisted the Red Room and its mistreatment of young girls was before Yelena helped to bring it down in Black Widow. Ultimately, I think Thunderbolts* expertly handled these heavy scenes, making the MCU feel darker than ever.