What Marvel’s Thunderbolts Film Teaches About Loneliness and Real Friendship
I went in expecting a Marvel movie.
I left with a gut-punch reminder that loneliness is one of the most dangerous forces we face—and most of us are fighting it alone.
One character asked a question so vulnerable, so unexpected, that it felt like it reached out and grabbed me:
““What do you do when you feel so alone?””
I couldn’t shake it.
Because the truth is, we all know that feeling.
And yet we rarely talk about it.
Why One Brave Question Changed Everything
Early in the film, the character Bob asks Yelena what she does when she feels alone. Her response is sarcastic—she jokes about stuffing the feelings down—but underneath the humor, there’s something painfully honest happening.
Bob didn’t just open up.
He went first.
That moment of bravery sparked something: a human connection in the middle of chaos. And from that moment on, Yelena saw him differently. She started to care. She even risked her life to protect him.
All because he chose to be vulnerable.
Isolation Isn’t Just Lonely—It’s Dangerous
As the story unfolds, we realize Bob isn’t just struggling—he’s unraveling. The loneliness he carries morphs into darkness, literally and metaphorically.
The film doesn’t call it out by name, but it’s clear he’s facing depression, shame, and deep internal battles.
What hit me hard was how that internal darkness started to seep outward. His perception shifted. He believed he was a burden to everyone around him—and he acted accordingly.
And that’s the scariest part of isolation:
When no one else is in the room, your lies sound like truth.
The Shame Room Metaphor Was Too Real
One of the most powerful moments in the movie is when characters are forced to enter what the film calls shame rooms. These are mental, emotional spaces where they must confront their past.
But here’s the twist:
They couldn’t walk through them alone.
When Yelena enters Bob’s shame room, she doesn’t run. She stays. She sees his mess. And she chooses to walk through it with him.
That’s what real friendship looks like.
Someone who sees your darkest room—and doesn’t flinch.
The moment Yelena enters her own shame room and finds him there? Chills. That’s the kind of connection that heals.
Fighting the Voice in Your Head
By the end of the film, Bob/Sentry is fighting more than just the “bad guys”—he’s fighting himself.
The internal voice that tells him he’s too far gone.
That he’s a burden.
That he’s broken.
Sound familiar?
We’ve all had those moments. When the loudest voice in your head is the one tearing you down. When it’s hard to believe anything else. And when isolation makes you think no one could ever understand.
But the truth?
You are not the sum of your past or your pain.
You are not a burden. You are not alone.
When Someone Walks With You, Everything Changes
The film’s final act shows Bob’s friends breaking their own chains—literally—to reach him.
They refuse to let him face the darkness alone.
But before they could do that, they had to walk through their own shame rooms.
That’s the beauty of real friendship. It’s not one-sided. It’s shared. It’s messy. It’s mutual.
And the shame rooms? They leveled the playing field.
Everyone realized:
We all have scars.
We all have pain.
But we also all have the power to stay with each other in it.
📺 Want to Go Deeper?
This post was inspired by a full episode on my YouTube channel, Accidentally Intentional.
In it, I break down the emotional arc of Thunderbolts and how it mirrors the very real loneliness and shame so many of us carry.
I think it’ll meet you right where you are—and give you a little hope for what friendship can look like on the other side of vulnerability.
Final Thought
If you’ve been walking through your own shame room…
If you’ve convinced yourself that no one would understand…
Let me be the voice that tells you otherwise.
You are worth walking with.
You are not too far gone.
And there are people—real ones—willing to go into the darkness with you.
You just have to let them in.
Zoe Asher is a friendship and connection coach, corporate speaker, and host of the Accidentally Intentional podcast. Through practical tools and real talk, she helps people go from feeling disconnected to building friendships that actually last. Her mission is simple: destroy loneliness and teach the skill of meaningful connection — whether that’s in everyday life or in the workplace.
🗣 Want Zoe to speak at your event or work with your team? Click here to learn more.
🎙 Or keep hanging out with her on the Accidentally Intentional podcast & YouTube show.