"Captain America: Brave New World" Or, When Will Marvel Turn Things Around?
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 3:00PM by Nathaniel R
Benjamin Franklin famously quipped "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." We might add "...and new installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" to that shortlist. Especially since Captain America Brave New World arrives for digital rental/purchase on tax day itself, Tuesday April 15th next week. Unfortunately the new film is taxing and not to die for. On Valentine's Weekend when the film opened, I was in Pittsburgh (long story). I never regret seeing movies but I most definitely regretted splurging for an uber to get to a suburban multiplex because it happened to be opening weekend. For this, really? What was the rush?
The boyfriend didn't entirely understand why we were doing this, amidst an already busy weekend, but he's a good sport. There was a distinct lack of energy in the theater even before the movie unspooled. I wasn't worried. Brave New World would surely hype us up in no time, understanding the mandate that first setpieces in action movies do this. Instead we were treated to a protacted not very exciting sequence where the good Captain (Anthony Mackie) and Falcon-in-training Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) attempt to intercept a package. It goes well. Too well even. Something is amiss.
From there a complicated if pedestrian narrative unfolds. It involves a long game plot by The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) to turn grumpy President Ross (Harrison Ford replacing the late William Hurt) into an even grumpier Red Hulk so that ......um... er... what was the plan again? The day after the details were already evaporating and now it's been two months.
How did the new Captain America get so sidelined in his own debut? At times it felt like you could practically edit Sam Wilson out of the plot and replace him with any adjacent SHIELD agent or non-powered superhero without much fuss. Anthony Mackie has always been a solid actor, but here he focuses of the weight of the shield on Wilson (an arc that was already explored in Falcon and Winter Soldier), forgetting the different heightened demands of carrying a whole popcorn movie. With Mackie's unexciting competence in the lead we'd have to find thrills elsewhere.
With the supporting cast your mileage may vary. Harrison Ford doesn't (can't!) forget to be a movie star so he's fun. We're glad he's been busy collecting paycheck ever since his second now-figurative Han Solo thawing ten years back. But the question of when he'll get very very angry and turn into Red Hulk is such an endless tease in the movie that it's bound to feel anti-climactic. Giancarlo Esposito, also a reliably exciting screen actor, does what he can but is cursed with a villain we barely know anything about or spend any time with. Perpetually shameless overactor Tim Blake Nelson hams it up as The Leader but what a lame character as super villains go! The Leader seems to be there largely so he can also appear in the ends credits to hint vaguely at future MCU events. Carl Lumbly ably reprises his Falcon and Winter Soldier character Isaiah Bradley, an aging super soldier, perpetually betrayed by the country that created him. Unfortunately there's nothing new to latch on to in this feature film encore. I perked up for a moment when Shira Haas arrived as a new Widow. Those trained in the Red Room have been a thrill in other MCU movies. Imagine my shock when Haas, who has been a dependably thrilling actress for several years now, didn't pop. She looks lost and ineffective onscreen for the first time.
Who was minding the ship? Turns out it was another obviously talented artist: Julius Onah. The director did fine calling-card work with the one-two pre-pandemic punch of Cloverfield Paradox's clever thrills and the deliciously acted provocations of Luce. Why are clever thrills and delicious provocations nowhere to be seen here?
In other words, it is surely the gruelling insatiable needs of Disney's assembly line and not any individual artists that have been sabotaging the effectiveness of recent Marvel projects -- at least the ones that were aiming to be an integral part of the multi-franchise-within-the-franchise-narrative. Peripheral efforts like Agatha All Along or Daredevil Born Again have been more exciting... surely because less was riding on their success.
Sitting down for a new MCU film used to be a thrill but now feels like a chore or at least a habit we should break. The Captain America films have been my personal favourites in this sprawling universe so I was cautiously optimistic headed to the theater. But disappointment quickly set in. Where is the passion in this movie? Why does it look so cheaply made given its gargantuan budget? Why does it feel like everyone is punching a time clock? Indeed the only actor that appeared as thrilled to be here as audiences once were to see the big show was Danny Ramirez. His Joaquin Torres was endearingly eager to strap on the Falcon wings. Consequently every narrative point that held Torres back was beyond annoying. This movie desperately needed his energy.
The powers that be at the MCU need to learn a few very obvious lessons quickly. The most financially successful or artistically interesting projects in this genre have at least one of the following three things (I'll use post-Endgame examples to show that there's still hope): energetic actors that are thrilled to be there (say Tom Holland and Simu Liu); writers that have actual ideas about where to take familiar characters (like the team from WandaVision); directors who understand how to helm and/or who to hire to craft exciting fight scenes and iconic visual flourishes during action sequences (Destin Cretton, Sam Raimi). Pair those three elements and then get the hell out of the way! This is in no way too big of an ask. Try it and the magic might well bubble back up again. C-
[Available for purchase or rental on April 15. Disney+ streaming date has yet to be announced.]
Reader Comments (3)
Did 14 years of warnings not alert you to the mediocrity you were going to see,was this the only film on?
Can we not have your medal winners instead?
Marvel put a bad taste in my mouth ever since they fired a black man who DID NOT go to jail and replaced him with a white man who HAS been in jail.
(FYI - Jonathan Majors in ‘Magazine Dreams’ is amazing!!! - so glad it finally got released!)
My only excitement stems from Julia Louis-Dreyfus being added to the Marvel universe.
Marvel should've taken a few years off after Endgame. Getting rid of Victoria Alonso, some of the rushed production on some projects, and hiring people who really don't have an understanding on the source material in favor of their own bullshit really hurt Marvel. I've been sitting out of some of their stuff lately as I have lost interest and have come to the conclusion that Scorsese is right.