A Marvel Misstep: Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

A continuation of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TFatWS) (2021), Captain America: Brave New World (2025) is Marvel’s latest installment and Anthony Mackie’s first solo outing as Captain America. Mackie’s character, Sam Wilson, is the first Black Captain America in the franchise, and his arc grapples with the racial discrimination and insecurities Wilson faces after taking the place of Steve Rogers’ Captain America. However, due to messy production, weak plotlines, and dull characters, instead of revitalizing the franchise, this addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe falls short. Brave New World simultaneously tries to be a superhero action flick and a political thriller without excelling at either. 

The film begins with Sam Wilson meeting with the newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), who drags Sam into an international crisis; political tension, global conflict, and the possibility of war have emerged over the discovery of Adamantium—the powerful fictional metal famous for its connections to Wolverine in the X-Men comics. The metal comes from the Celestial Body viewers last saw in Eternals (2021). Ross asks Wilson to reform the Avengers to prevent catastrophe, but Wilson is reluctant. Meanwhile, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson)—who was first introduced in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and is known as The Leader in the comics—uses mind control to frame Isaiah Bradley (a Black super-soldier from the 1950s, last seen in TFatWS) in an attempted assassination of Ross. Sterns also turns Ross into a red version of the Hulk with Gamma-laced pills; a climactic battle ensues between Wilson and Red Hulk in Washington, D.C. 

While the film’s premise had potential to be compelling, Brave New World juggles too many plot threads—Ross’s distant relationship with his daughter, an international conflict over adamantium, and Wilson’s guilt over Bradley’s wrongful arrest—making it difficult to follow. All of these plot threads unfold simultaneously, but none of them feel truly developed, and some even feel unnecessary; for example, Ross’s daughter shows up for just one scene to talk to him at the end of the film. Brave New World also struggles to balance its political themes with action scenes. In contrast to Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)—another Cap flick that doubled as a political thriller—Brave New World treats its political elements more like plot devices than deep explorations of real-world issues​, making their usage of political representations ring hollow. 

Brave New World also lacks detailed character arcs. The film’s primary villain, Samuel Sterns, is woefully underdeveloped, making him feel like more of an afterthought. In the comic books, Sterns, a Hulk villain, has superhuman intellect. Sterns’s power is rarely touched on in the film, and his backstory is confusing and rushed. Eventually, Ross turns into the Red Hulk, which is the climax of the film. This would have been an incredibly fun twist, but it was spoiled by Disney’s marketing, causing a lack of real surprise. While Mackie does a powerful job portraying his character, Wilson’s character arc is underwhelming compared to his predecessor, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Very few elements of Brave New World felt like Wilson’s own; both the Red Hulk and Sterns, Hulk comic characters, take the spotlight. This movie fails to truly define Wilson’s version of Cap by mixing guilt, race, and an inconsistent insecurity about his lack of powers to ultimately deliver a half-baked character arc. 

Visually, the film lacks production quality. The CGI is subpar, especially in the Red Hulk scene. Instead of fluid, well-choreographed fights, the editing makes the action feel choppy and rushed, breaking viewer immersion. The movie also struggles with disjointed pacing, with some sequences feeling unnecessarily long. On the other hand, other scenes, especially crucial action scenes, are cut short in a way that reduces their impacts.

Marvel is over-relying on its past films. Most of Brave New World’s plot stems from The Incredible Hulk (2008), which is an odd creative choice; it’s supposed to be a standalone adventure for Sam. With a new Captain America, the film was an opportunity for Marvel to start fresh and launch a new saga—but it keeps overutilizing the nostalgia value from callbacks. Captain America: Brave New World is insufficient in building Sam Wilson’s version of Captain America, failing both as a standalone and as an addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For longtime fans hoping for a return to Marvel’s past glory, Brave New World will not restore faith; it’s another confusing, mediocre film in this increasingly directionless franchise.