The Marvel Cinematic Universe officially kicked off in 2008 with Iron Man, and is still going strong nearly two decades later with its 36th feature film, Thunderbolts, opening in U.S. theaters on May 2.

“Thunderbolts,” about a group of MCU rejects who band together after CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine ( Julia Louis-Dreyfus ) tries to erase them and their covert program, is both a return to form for Marvel and something a little different. While there’s plenty of franchise building going on, “Thunderbolts” is pleasantly standalone.

Populated by the schlubs of the superhero world, "Thunderbolts*" is another step in the right direction for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it continues extricating itself from the mess of the Multiverse Saga.