The new Captain America cannot save the MCU. Photo courtesy of CEO Today.
HARRISON PRYOR | STAFF REPORTER | hrpryor@butler.edu
“Film Fanatics” explores Hollywood’s recent releases, cherished classics and everything in between. These thought-provoking reviews invite fresh perspectives and weigh whether a film deserves attention — or if it’s best left in the past. Read on to find out what our writers think of this week’s film.
“Avengers: Endgame” may have wrapped up the story of the original Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Avengers team, but of course, the show must go on. Thus, new-to-the-screen successors like Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova were set up in subsequent MCU projects like “Black Widow” and “Hawkeye”. One famous indestructible shield, however, changed hands to a long-running character immediately at the end of “Avengers: Endgame”.
Steve Rogers — portrayed by Chris Evans — passed on his vibranium shield and the title of Captain America to Sam Wilson, the Falcon — portrayed by Anthony Mackie. Now, in “Captain America: Brave New World”, Wilson must uncover the mastermind behind a global political scheme against the new President, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross — portrayed by Harrison Ford. Ford took over the role from the late William Hurt, who passed away in 2022.
Sophomore secondary education major Henry Bickel felt the trailers were unclear in what the movie would offer; he could not tell whether or not “Brave New World” would follow the same style as “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.
“It is trying to [have] that ‘Winter Soldier’-esque political-thriller style, and I have really liked the parts that I have seen in the trailers, but it also leans so much into being a Captain America versus Red Hulk movie,” Bickel said. “I am just not sure what to expect from it. It seems very tonally messy, [going] off of trailers.”
The film followed suit with clashing stylistic choices. The first two acts play like a political spy thriller, and Captain America even goes without his suit in many fights. However, the final act abandons all caution, solves and dismisses its big mystery, and becomes the cheesy superhero flick it was always going to be.
This shift is where the movie also dips in quality. What began as a thrilling adventure full of anticipation and tension ends as a flashy B-movie with poorly done CGI. The much-advertised battle against Red Hulk mostly lived up to the hype, but its resolution was too neat and tidy to really feel important. “Brave New World” did barely anything new and left little to be anticipated for future MCU projects.
Maythazin Minthu, a sophomore public health and sociology double major, believed that “Brave New World” ended things too nicely to be meaningful.
“I am surprised that it ended so well,” Minthu said. “I expected some big catastrophe … I thought it was going to end more on that note [of] ‘there are big things coming.’ I was disappointed that it wrapped up everything perfectly. It felt more like a fluff ending than what a superhero ending [would be].”
“Brave New World” played out more like a late sequel to “The Incredible Hulk” than anything else. Red Hulk and the Leader — portrayed by Tim Blake Nelson — were both set up in the movie in 2008, and Giancarlo Esposito’s highly anticipated Sidewinder felt more like a sideliner with his cameo-level shortage of screentime.
Because “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” thoroughly established Sam Wilson as the new true Captain America, Bickel hoped “Brave New World” would expand its story beyond that.
“I am really hoping the movie does not make [Sam Wilson’s] whole plotline just trying to live up to Steve Rogers,” Bickel said. “I do not think we need that again. I just want to see [Mackie] acting as Captain America.”
These expectations were certainly met, as the new Captain America’s only gripe about not being the old one is the lack of a superhuman physiology. It may have been wise to strive for Steve Rogers’ sense of lasting effect on the MCU, as this movie fails to develop anything meaningful other than an obligatory multiverse tease.
The constant multiverse stories and teases may be the reason this movie’s addition to the MCU mythos is so lackluster. Slated for a 2027 release, “Avengers: Secret Wars” is shaping up to be a soft reboot for the franchise, as the comic run it is based off of merged several popular elements and characters into the main Marvel universe. Essentially, the MCU could retroactively pretend that it has always included Marvel’s other teams like the X-Men and Fantastic Four by combining their respective universes.
Perhaps “Brave New World” was never meant to save the MCU. This nothing-burger of a movie might just be filler until the next big rewrite. Possibilities like this are especially disappointing at a time when the MCU seems to be striving for a comeback following its extremely negative output.
The MCU has been in hot water with its recent underperforming movies and critically panned limited series. Much of the franchise’s failure in the 2020s can be attributed to Marvel Studios’ quantity over quality mindset. While the franchise’s first three Phases — roughly denoted by overarching storylines — saw 23 films over 11 years, the fourth and fifth will have 29 projects combined in the past 4 years.
Noticing the growing disinterest in the glut of Marvel projects, the studio has become more measured with its output to mostly positive results. The MCU 2024 releases consisted of three seasons of various streaming series and one movie. Of those, only “What If…?” was poorly received.
Michael Aronson, the Compass Center’s Jewish life advisor, believed that Marvel Studios is simply trying to regain the traction it had before “Avengers: Infinity War” rather than break new ground.
“The MCU has struggled since ‘Infinity War’ for a variety of reasons,” Aronson said. “They are trying to bring back that excitement, but there was not much new. We have seen this story already. It is like ‘Brave New World’ is [saying], ‘Hey, watch us do it again.’”
“Brave New World” is the second-to-last movie in Phase Five of the MCU, which will end its theatrical releases with “Thunderbolts*”. Phase Five will end completely with the miniseries “Ironheart”, releasing exclusively on Disney+ starting in June.
“Brave New World” earned a little over its $180 million budget in its opening weekend and has received a better reaction from audiences than from critics.
