As hard as it might be to believe, 2025 is when the MCU’s “Multiverse Saga” will be plowing through its penultimate act. Following a few box office disappointments, mixed viewership for exclusive Disney+ shows, and controversy surrounding the Saga’s prior Thanos-equivalent villain, Marvel Studios is clearly trying to get to the much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars as quickly as possible. After a somewhat quiet 2024 that included one very successful movie and a handful of television shows, Marvel is going hard in 2025 with three huge ensemble movies and two high-profile shows, the first of which is Captain America: Brave New World.
On paper, Captain America: Brave New World tries to accomplish quite a lot in a very short amount of time. Not only is it following one of the MCU’s strongest trilogies, but it also has the task of continuing where Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, left off. If that wasn’t enough pressure, Marvel Studios has also decided that Captain America: Brave New World should tie up loose ends that have long been left behind by The Incredible Hulk and Eternals — two of the MCU’s less beloved projects. If you’re a fan of those films and take offense to that judgment, don’t worry, as Captain America: Brave New World may just be one of the weakest entries in the decades-spanning franchise.
What Is ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ About?

As mentioned above, Captain America: Brave New World takes place months after the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Sam Wilson has finally embraced his inherited moniker as the new Captain America following the retirement of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). What Wilson hasn’t embraced is the newly elected President of the United States, an old adversary of his and his fellow anti-Sokovia Accords Avengers — Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford). While both Wilson and Ross are willing to let bygones be bygones, tempers flare once again when a long-lost villain from the MCU’s history returns to enact a deadly conspiracy that has been over a decade in the making.
With an espionage story that features sleeper agents and long-standing government secrets, Captain America: Brave New World is trying to emulate Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is understandable given that it’s one of the best films in the MCU, let alone the best Captain America film. Unfortunately, where that film has themes of unwarranted surveillance and government overreach that are still relevant to this day, Captain America: Brave New World doesn’t seem to be saying anything beyond “bad government is bad.” Espionage stories live or die in the twists and turns they produce, and practically none are to be found in the fourth Captain America film, apart from the odd MCU-required cameo. It’s one of the most frustratingly predictable movies that Marvel has produced in a long time.
Where the film could make up for this with some riveting action, Captain America: Brave New World doesn’t even accomplish that. The action set pieces are all very rudimentary and, by the numbers, don’t even remotely live up to the visceral and inventive nature of the legendary battles from the previous Captain America films. The only notable exception is the finale involving Red Hulk, but it’s not so much “impressive” as it is entertaining to watch.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’s Characters Are Dull, and Its Dialogue Is Even Duller

The weak writing doesn’t end with the narrative structure either. Captain America: Brave New World also sports some of the worst lines of dialogue ever to grace the MCU. It’s repeatedly bad one-liner after bad one-liner, making for an uncharacteristically unfunny MCU adventure from start to finish. Speaking of uncharacteristic, the typically effortlessly charismatic Anthony Mackie comes across as overly reserved here. The stiff expository dialogue certainly doesn’t help, but apart from a few asides about prior Falcon and Winter Soldier characters, this particular version of Sam Wilson is incredibly bland. The same can also be said for Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph and Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, both of whom feel like entirely superfluous and uninteresting side characters that add absolutely nothing to either the film or the broad Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Thankfully, some of the other characters do fare a bit better. Harrison Ford is pretty much playing Harrison Ford, not really trying to emulate the performance of Ross’ previous performer, William Hurt. Still, Ford does inject a lot of humanity into a previously pretty unlikable character. Humanity is the name of the game for Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley, who is the film’s almost exclusive source of thematic weight and emotion with yet another passionate performance as a truly dark and tragic character in this comic book world. Danny Ramirez is also given much more to do as Sam’s ward, Joaquin Torres, and overall, does have some decent enough points of levity. Finally, Tim Blake Nelson finally arrives to the MCU as The Leader, and while the conspiracy plan is convoluted and questionable, he’s a decent enough entry to the franchise that sets up some intriguing developments for the future.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Is Another Clear Casualty of Rampant Reshoots

Image via Marvel Studios

It’s no secret that Captain America: Brave New World underwent several phases of extensive reshoots, which can be a lifeline for many great feature films or create an overtly inconsistent final project. In the case of the fourth Captain America film, it’s the latter. Apart from the odd plot and pacing decisions, other glaring technical problems are also present in Captain America: Brave New World’s visuals. Almost every single scene in Captain America 4 looks like it was shot on a green screen. That’s to be expected for the big expansive action scenes, but this is true even for basic dialogue sequences between just two characters, which is not only visually unappealing but a telltale sign of reshoots.
The garish green screen is far from the end of Captain America: Brave New World’s technical problems. The film almost proudly boasts some CGI effects that continue a trend that Hollywood blockbusters just don’t seem to treat quality visual effects as a high priority. They make everything in the film seem artificial and fake, and it’s almost baffling that The Incredible Hulk, a film that was released in 2008, has more convincing CGI monsters than a movie released almost 20 years later.
Suffice it to say, Captain America: Brave New World is not the 2025 start that Marvel fans may be hoping for, with more pressure now being put on Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If anything, the film has more in common with Sony’s disastrous attempts to make its own Marvel movies than it does with the prior entries that turned the MCU into what it is today. In trying to do so much all at once, Captain America: Brave New World forgets what made its title character a relatable fan-favorite. Instead, we get a narrative that is as convoluted as it is boring, visuals that are as unappealing as they are uninspired, and a Marvel movie that is as frustrating as it is forgettable. Had this been a random C-list Marvel hero, that would be forgivable, but for a character as revered as Captain America, it’s a huge disappointment.
Captain America: Brave New World flies into theaters on February 14

Captain America: Brave New World

Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps will have to do a lot of heavy lifting to make up for the soaring disappointment that is Captain America: Brave New World.

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Pros & Cons

Harrison Ford and Carl Lumbly give passionate performances.
The Leader introduces some intriguing developments for the MCU.

The dialogue and writing is incredibly stiff and predictable.
Anthony Mackie’s lead performance is shockingly underwhelming.
Every action setpiece is very forgettable.
Some glaring technical issues like noticeable green screen and unconvincing CGI.