Summary
A solid but safe thriller, Marvel delivers engaging action and franchise nostalgia but struggles to push Sam Wilson’s Captain America into truly new territory.
This latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) arrives at something of a juncture. It’s not just a new hero taking on Steve Rogers’ legacy but one navigating a vastly different landscape. Where a Marvel film was once a tentpole event, it’s now simply another chapter in an ever-expanding multimedia web.
Which is why stepping into CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD might come with a nagging sense of having missed something. Not only is this the 35th entry in the MCU, but it directly follows the 2021 Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. A quick Wiki refresher might be advisable before heading into the cinema.
Marvel Comics have long paralleled the real world, so it’s little surprise that the MCU has had its own US presidential election. Former general and Hulkbuster Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) now sits in the Oval Office. After a successful covert mission, Ross invites Captain America Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and his new sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) to the White House. To Sam’s surprise, he’s asked to restart the Avengers.
Yet when the president’s life is endangered by those closest to him and one of Sam’s allies is framed, Cap and Torres must team up with no-nonsense operative and former Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) to uncover the truth. What they find reaches deep into the bowels of MCU history.
Within the Captain America framework, the character has previously headlined a WWII adventure, a political thriller, and an all-out superhero brawl. BRAVE NEW WORLD leans into the thriller territory carved out by The Winter Soldier. But where Anthony and Joe Russo were charting fresh ground, director Julius Onah’s film is just as interested in looking back as it is forward.
The film’s first half does much of the heavy lifting, reestablishing Ross as a changed man since The Incredible Hulk (literally, thanks to the late William Hurt’s recasting). Constant references to daughter Betty, a villain from the past, and some choice cameos ensure its continuity within the broader MCU. The world’s response to Celestial Island finally gives some closure to the bombshell left at the end of Eternals nearly four years ago.
For the most part, this works, and the action is reliable if unspectacular. Through a series of rapid-fire fistfights, Wilson is established as every bit as formidable as his predecessor, albeit more reliant on gadgets. A standout sequence sees Captain America and his would-be Falcon dogfighting above a fleet in the Indian Ocean.
Yet for a film with five credited screenwriters, one has to wonder if this is the best they could come up with. They play it almost aggressively safe, stitching together investigative beats with set-pieces, rolling out the villain reveal, and leading up to the inevitable digital smackdown. If you’ve seen any of the promotional material, it’s no spoiler that Red Hulk and Captain America face off on the streets of Washington, D.C. The CG-heavy battle feels like a throwback—but perhaps there’s something vaguely comforting about that.
Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is just placeholding. After spending six episodes pondering his worthiness to carry Cap’s shield in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam finds himself rehashing some of those same anxieties here. Mackie is every bit the leading man, but the narrative struggles to let him shine as much as the in-universe doubters.
By the time the inevitable post-credits scene rolls, one wonders if we’ve actually moved forward at all. CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD is a solid enough entry but could have just as easily played out on Disney+. In some ways, it already has. Or maybe, in a world already overflowing with real-world political chaos, Marvel’s brand of action politics is starting to feel downright conventional.
2025 | USA | DIRECTOR: Julius Onah | WRITERS: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, Peter Glanz | CAST: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 12 February 2025
