Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel Studios
After the heights reached by the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Endgame in 2019, many were on the edge of their seats to see what the cinematic universe had in store next for a new generation of superhero leads and dangerous threats with the ultimate promise that it would once again lead to a grand satisfying conclusion of epic scales. After the quick epilogue to The Infinity Saga that was Spider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU launched into The Multiverse Saga starting with an incredibly well-received San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel that saw Kevin Feige detail the upcoming plans for the next number of years. At the time, it was impossible for Marvel to know the curveballs that would be thrown at them as they tried to go through with their plans. From the COVID-19 pandemic changing the landscape of cinema, the changing of attitudes regarding Disney+ original series which originally were slated to be a cornerstone of storytelling for the universe, the negative reception to multiple major MCU projects, and the firing of Jonathan Majors which forced the studio to change directions for their new major Saga-ending conflict, Marvel quickly struggled to put momentum together.
In an incredibly smart move, Marvel decided to take a small break to regroup. Outside of Deadpool & Wolverine, largely its own contained project, Marvel took 2024 off from releasing new feature releases as they focused and planned for the road to 2026's Avengers: Doomsday and 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. Their first film back from this break is Julius Onah's Captain America: Brave New World. The fourth Captain America film and the first one without Chris Evans as the titular role, the film has plenty of weight on its shoulders not only as a continuation of a core franchise within the MCU but also as the first step towards building hype and direction towards the next Avengers film which is scheduled to release only 15-months after Brave New World's opening weekend. For many reasons, it felt like Marvel needed Brave New World to be a win; an expectation ultimately failed by the underwhelming results of the feature.
Unlike some of Marvel's biggest blunders of the last few years, Captain America: Brave New World is not an outright disaster. The film is not tediously painful to sit through and has a general competence behind it, but for a film whose title suggests there will be something fresh and exciting in the project it is truly remarkable how watered down and redundant the film feels; even in the specific context of the MCU. The film follows the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) begins to truly take the reigns of the character and the weight that comes with the role. Alongside the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), and Korean War veteran Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), both of who were introduced in Disney+'s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series, Wilson begins to form a relationship with the newly-elected president of the United States, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford). Ross wants to work with Wilson to form a new Avengers team, but plans get torn apart when Bradley attempts to assassinate Ross during an event at The White House. Ross cuts ties with Wilson who has to not only get to the bottom of what would cause Bradley to lose control and attack the President, but also figure out a conspiracy close to Ross who possibly has some secrets of his own.
In every way, Captain America: Brave New World is a film that reheats ideas present in previous projects without adding anything new of value or weight. For a film that on the outside is so politically charged, it is shocking to see just how little interest the film has in engaging with any conversation with a real depth or gravitas, playing it consistently as hollow and safe as possible. There are plenty of meaningful conversations hinted at throughout the film. The movie alludes to deeper conversations on race, politics, and corruption but is only willing to briefly suggest these conversations are worth having, never actually cutting to the bone. Even the MCU itself has been more daring with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier being far more explicit and venomous in its discussion. For example, the character of Isaiah Bradley has complexity due to the decades of experimentation on him at the hands of the US Government, echoing historical racist abuse in the name of scientific study that has been a part of American history since colonial times with the most famous historical example being the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has an interest in exploring this topic with some depth, still nothing overly noteworthy, Brave New World chooses to almost completely bypass this alongside nearly every other political conversation. The film refuses to take sides, make statements, or give any character a worthy bite leading to an empty final statement being made. This doesn't even begin to address some of the deeper concerns with the politics within the film, mainly surrounding the inclusion of Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), better known as Sabra, whose inclusion raises serious questions considering recent political events. Especially if the film had no purpose for including this character, it could have been literally anyone, why would the feature choose to invite such a politically charged statement that ties to real-life genocide? It is a truly baffling choice.
Beyond the politics of Brave New World, much of the drama and narrative also feels like a watered-down ripoff of what has already been done previously. Echos of the previous Captain America films are felt, specifically, Isaiah Bradley's conflict is similar to Bucky Barnes' drama of Captain America: Civil War, but the characters are far less defined and their stories do not have the same complexity. The political conspiracy thriller within the film fails to feel compelling and the actual scope of the drama feels more aligned with what one would expect from a TV series than a feature film. This problem bleeds into the film's third act with the final action sequence which feels underwhelming both visually and narratively. Even the grand moment of the hero finally defeating the big bad guy is robbed from the audience here, creating no sense of satisfaction and certainly nothing that will be memorable even in the context of this era of the MCU. The action itself also suffers from poor editing and cinematography, possibly a result of Onah's lack of experience directing action. It doesn't help that the visual effects, as is regular for Marvel at this point, are incredibly spotty with key scenes towards the film's conclusion looking absolutely laughable. It has been said over and over for years, but there is no reason features with this high of a budget should look this awkward and low-quality overall.
If there is one highlight, it would be the performances throughout the film. While Mackie might not bring the same charisma as Evans, he more than rises to the occasion as a lead player, bringing a thoughtful intensity that transforms the character to be a new kind of leader, one that the MCU could greatly benefit from when it begins to assemble more team-based dynamics over the next handful of films. While his role is greatly reduced, Lumbly is also a standout, bringing an emotional edge and anger to the film that provides its greatest moments of gravitas. Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, Ford basically steals the show here. Fully bringing this character to life, Ford's portrayal of a man pushing for power while also being haunted by his past is easily the most compelling piece of the film and it is a shame the writing behind the character isn't better as he has all the potential to be a standout character for this era of the MCU.
It is hard to imagine many fates being worse than the one given to Captain America: Brave New World. While the film is not a disaster, it also fails to build much of value, leading to the film to exist in a purgatory between good and bad that is simply boring and forgettable. While the film is a definite step up from MCU's biggest blunders such as Eternals, the film is almost sure to fade quicker from the conversation because of just how mediocre it is. There is no reason why one would discuss or bring up the film as every part of the production is so milquetoast. It feels destined that Brave New World will fade away into the void of MCU projects without much thought or attention. A deserved fate for a film so unwilling to craft something new or meaningful.
