Captain America: Brave New World was released on February 14, 2025, and directed by Julius Onah. It stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, the new Captain America since Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) died in Endgame (2019). The film promises an exhilarating, action-packed, espionage experience with that MCU factor.
I went into this movie not expecting much, given the recent climate surrounding Marvel projects after Endgame. As a long-time fan, I've witnessed the cinematic universe's peaks and troughs, from the greatness of Infinity War to, well, whatever Ant-man 4 and Echo were. The trailers did excite me. The story of a new Captain America, burdened with such a heavy symbol as a black man representing the turmoil and division prevalent in America (both fictionally and literally), is an interesting concept, even putting the comics aside. Since I did enjoy the Falcon and Winter Soldier TV Show, this film felt like it was worth a watch.
Brief Summary (Spoilers)
For those who didn't watch the film and aren't planning on it, here's a quick breakdown of what happens.
General Ross is now elected president of the United States and with this new responsibility vows to usher in an era of peace and other typical good promises from politicians. The new Captain America, Sam Wilson, and his partner Falcon (Joaquinn Torres) work under the president with Isaiah Bradley, the forgotten black Captain America who was brought out into the light after the events of Falcon & Winter Soldier. A party at the White House goes wrong when Isaiah randomly tries to kill the president, seemingly under mind control, which is later revealed to be the work of Samuel Stern (AKA The Leader), a super smart scientist who, during the events of The Incredible Hulk (2008), was affected by gamma radiation turning him into a highly intelligent being instead of the standard Hulk strength.
Samuel orchestrates all of this simply because Ross, who had kept him locked away, using him to create weapons, plans, etc., promised him a pardon and freedom once he became president. It's later revealed that The Leader has been microdosing President Ross with gamma pills, slowly turning him into the Red Hulk (basically the same powerset as the Hulk but red and emits heat the angrier he gets). He also sets a mini war in motion between America and Japan over that celestial island that, since Eternals, was literally never referred to and harbors the newly discovered element Adamantium (the stuff Wolverine's claws and skeleton are made from). Anyway, cue the typical MCU final battle with the president unleashed as the raging Red Hulk and Captain America having to overpower him with nothing but his vibranium armor, his training, and the mighty shield. The fight ends, Sam is victorious, Ross is locked up in the Raft (that prison from the Civil War movie) alongside Samuel Stern, who in a post-credit scene alludes to other beings from other worlds coming to cause chaos.
An Empty Vessel
That title may sound harsh, but bear with me. This film, like in my opinion a few MCU films and TV shows lately, was a bit of an empty vessel. Did I enjoy the film? Definitely, but I am a Marvel fan who likes most of the characters from comics and what I've read online. Seeing a callback to the Incredible Hulk film, which I still remember watching and to me was the best representation of the Hulk, was of course a highlight to me. Plus, seeing Adamantium being introduced to the MCU was exciting. However, taking away the bias and nostalgia, the film itself was, well, a bit of an empty vessel. The main villain, Samuel Stern, while intriguing at times, was a little flat and one-dimensional. The high stakes of potential war between Japan and America over Adamantium were brushed aside pretty quickly, and the reveal of the Red Hulk wasn't really much of a surprise because it's literally on the poster and in the trailer.
The main protagonist, Captain America, while he objectively ticked all the right boxes, said the empowering words, tried to be witty but stoic, and did have one or two cool intense fight scenes, he just didn't grab me and my attention as much as Steve Rogers' Captain America did. Now, that is no disrespect to Anthony Mackie as an actor. It is extremely difficult to come in and replace a character under the same name which has been known by audiences by the same face for years, but to me, at least at times, it didn't really feel like it was his movie. I think overall the movie was good, but that's just it. It sort of ticked all the right boxes to make it an MCU film but didn't leave me with any sort of grand emotion or anything substantial really. You could say, well, that's not the goal of this film, but if you look at previous Cap films, you can see a difference in the weighting.
"I am the Captain Now"...
The old Captain America films, or character just by himself, have a number of outstanding moments to me, and not only that but to the MCU. I won't go too much into the first film because as I'm writing this I've only seen it once, but the second Cap film had moments like that hand-to-hand fight scene against the Winter Soldier, the idea that Captain America was fed up being a Shield lackey and being left in the dark that he went completely rogue to save humanity. In Civil War, it was the Captain fighting against his own friends and fellow Avengers to defend Bucky's actions. Even that film had a similar premise of an evil mastermind puppeteering from behind the scenes, but the emotional toll, the sacrifices made, the action, the writing—everything felt more intense and memorable.
This new film, however, unfortunately lacks any of that, and while this is the first new Captain America film, we have seen Sam Wilson as Captain America before in his TV show. There's simply not the same grand presence and respect commanded as the old Captain America at the moment, and I think a major reason for this is because the original Cap was chosen to be experimented on to save his country during World War II because he was a good man who put his life at risk for others before he even took the serum. He's a man that no matter the odds, no matter who is against him, friend or foe, will fight for what he believes is right, even willing to take on Thanos on his own in Endgame. The new Cap was chosen because he had fought by Steve Rogers' side, was a decent man, and...well, that's all I can think of, to be honest. You can see the difference in reasoning. There just isn't as much to persuade me of why Sam Wilson is Captain America. He is inspiring, he chooses not to take the serum and remain a normal person carrying the shield of justice, maybe to represent that you don't need powers to make a change, but that's pretty much it. Of course, I love the idea of a black man being Captain America. As a black man myself, it is inspiring to see, but Captain America is a commanding title, and this new one so far lacks that same commanding presence.
There is potential...
There were some positives to take from the film, depending on how invested in Marvel films you are. The introduction of Adamantium is pretty major, setting up the appearance of characters like Wolverine, potentially the X-Men and their villains officially in the MCU, which I personally am pretty excited for. We could potentially be getting a Hulk vs. Red Hulk interaction on the big screen one day, although with the last we heard from Hulk being how he has a son with a bad haircut (that's a She-Hulk TV show reference), who knows? The post-credit scene mentioning people from other worlds are coming and Cap needs to be ready for them also could be setting up some cinema-breaking scenes. So it is not all doom and gloom, and I think even Sam Wilson's Captain America will hopefully still improve and grow more into the role so we can get more of those "I am the captain now" moments.
Final Ratings
If you have made it this far, thanks reading, if you skipped till the end then still...thanks :).
This film is slightly above average, nothing too special, you won't really miss much if you do end up not bothering to watch it but it has it's good moments and well there have been worse MCU projects lately. It is only the first new Captain America film, the action was pretty good with intense fight choreography, Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez and other actors/actresses did put on decent performances (perhaps some more than others), but overall it's not a film you're likely to keep in mind for too long after leaving the cinema and with that said you could probably get the same effect streaming at home on disney+. Something to also consider is that the film grossed $192.4 million worldwide on it's opening weekend and received a 52% approval rating from critics and 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's not terrible but could be better.
Rating: 5.8/10
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