I finally got a chance to see “Captain America: Brave New World” last weekend and I was relieved to discover that it reminded me of old Marvel movies, prior to recent years when the studio has become known as more of a factory, quickly churning out movies and prioritizing quantity over quality.
Many fans believe that the Infinity Saga (Phases 1-3) was the prime of Marvel movies, and that everything has gone downhill since “Avengers: Endgame” was released in 2019, ending that era. While I’m not sure anything will match the hype for that movie again, I would argue that Marvel has had some successes since like “WandaVision” (2021) and “Black Widow” (2021). Still, for every box-office success there were multiple projects that left fans disappointed or became the joke of the Internet like “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” (2022) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023) (my friend Harry and I saw the latter in theaters and we’re still not convinced it wasn’t a collective hallucination).
Due to this, people have been growing increasingly tired of Marvel so “Captain America: Brave New World” came at a critical time when fans are trying to determine if there is anything for the franchise left to say, or if they should leave well enough alone. I was slightly apprehensive, especially since the reviews I had seen since the movie’s Feb. 14 release were mixed. However, the Captain America movies are some of my favorites in the MCU and I’ve always liked Anthony Mackie and his portrayal of Sam Wilson so I gave it a shot.
I’m glad I did and I’m especially glad I saw it in the theater. The film sxtars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson AKA Captain America and Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon (Wilson’s old superhero moniker). The two characters have previously teamed up in “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” but their loyalties are further tested in this film as they go against the U.S. government to prove that Isaiah, the original forgotten supersoldier, was being mind-controlled when he tried to assassinate the President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and is therefore innocent and should be freed from jail, which he was immediately thrown in following the attack.
On their quest to prove this they end up uncovering all sorts of illegal human experimentation the President has been doing, as well as a ploy to steal a brand new, currently disputed natural resource called adamantium (briefly introduced in a previous movie, “Eternals”) from the rest of the world.
Wilson and Torres both have winged suits so the movie includes lots of exciting flying scenes as they try to expose the president, including an epic maritime battle against Japan over the adamantium in the Indian Ocean. The editing and sound effects make you feel like you are up there in the sky yourself, with whooshing noises, fast-paced cuts, explosions and missiles diving straight at you on screen. The immersiveness of the flight scenes reminded me of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Marvel has had its fair share of CGI mishaps in previous projects and while this film does have a few sequences that are not great, overall the special effects are up to par with Hollywood standards.
The plot did get a little confusing at points, making lots of references to older MCU projects, introducing brand new characters as the antagonists without fully explaining their motivation and briefly showing Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as a politician, despite past altercations with the U.S. government which Wilson had to save him from in other Captain America films.
Overall though I enjoyed the movie a lot and left the theater feeling excited for the future of the MCU, as opposed to wondering what I had just wasted two hours watching which is how I have left other recent Marvel projects.
In March Forbes reported that the film was “still crawling towards breaking even” so it seems that other fans were not willing to give the movie a chance due to skepticism or bad press.
It made me wonder how many of the negative reviews may have been just because people were clinging onto Chris Evans. Some Marvel fans were unhappy about the change of Captain America from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). The film addresses this when Ross tells him “You may be Captain America, but you’re not Steve Rogers” but Bucky Barnes later comforts him and tells him that he gives people something to aspire to.
Mackie’s skilled acting and fighting deserve recognition. His character is sarcastic and witty but also has integrity and stands up for what he believes is right, even when he’s against the U.S. government, as any good Captain America should.
The movie also sets up a future Avengers movie, the first since “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, but still has enough substance to stand alone. The cast announcement for the new movie, “Avengers: Doomsday” was announced on Instagram and includes both Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez. The movie is slated to come out in May 2026.
Marvel has faced criticism in the past for its lack of diversity and rightfully so — “Captain: America: Brave New World” is still one of the few movies to not star a white male. Because of this, its unfortunate that the film wasn’t as well received as it could have been, as hopefully it won’t cause Marvel to fall back into its old ways. I would attribute fans’ somewhat lackluster reception of it to timing— dwindling interest in Marvel projects, growing skepticism of the franchise and the fact that there are bigger upcoming projects announced like “Thunderbolts” which will be released in May.
I think Marvel could have also done a better job promoting “Captain America: Brave New World” and given Mackie a brighter spotlight for the culmination of his 11 year career with Marvel. Hopefully this article will inspire you to go out and get tickets while the movie is still in theaters.
