Spoilers THUNDERBOLTS* (spoilers I guess?)

[kermit4karate]

People want heroes to be special. No one relates to iron man or the hulk or Thor. Or Superman or Batman.

Um...heroes are special? That's why they're called heroes.

And everyone relates to Iron Man (substance abuse and relationship problems), Hulk (anger-management, LOL), Superman (chronic people pleaser/perennial do-gooder) and Batman (billionaire a$$hole / minor social anxiety disorder).

Without their "issues," no one would care about them or their powers.

 

[Kaodi]

The Thunderbolts are very relatable if you think you are a loser. I mean, maybe your average loser has killed one or two fewer people than Yelena, but as a general type...

Anyway - I think there is a fine line between the adoration of a crowd and the adoration of a small group of people. Like, sure, Alexei maybe gets carried anyway by talking about having been happy when he was a hero in the Soviet Union. But Bob does not pull himself up by his bootstraps. He overcomes the Void with the feelings of Yelena and the others. A crowd is technically not that much different than that - just with more people.