In the town of Wentachee, Washington on February 25th at an 8 PM screening of one of its newest releases, the roof of the Liberty Cinema collapsed onto the seats and floor below, to the shock of the singular couple in attendance, who while completely unharmed, received a more immersive experience than they paid for while seated a safe distance from the collapse. Were the theater packed with excited fans and audiences for a hit action blockbuster, it can only be speculated how many would have been hurt. Fortunately, the theater was only showing the new “Captain America” to a largely empty room. The news came to the surprise and mockery of many online, noting the pitiful attendance to the latest installment of what had once been one of Marvel’s powerhouse franchises.
While debuting to a middling reception from critics but a promising $100 M opening weekend box office, the Anthony Mackie led superhero flick suffered a dramatic 68.3% drop in its second weekend, the studio’s third worst drop following “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (which I had given an, in retrospect, too generous review in Grant Campus’ Western Student Press) and “The Marvels,” which suffered a 78.1 percent drop in its second weekend that would give any studio exec a coronary. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become no stranger to disappointment in the box office post Endgame, in the past Disney and fans had at least had the excuse of the lasting effects of the Pandemic to explain away and cope with their less than impressive returns. In 2025 however, the staggering drop experienced by “Captain America: Brave New World” can only beg for further analysis. Why is this new installment in a widely loved series failing to soar like its Falcon-turned-Captain star? How can a cinematic juggernaut once used to breaking a billion at the box office with ease now struggling to fill seats, even in theaters with more reliable ceilings? Is it that audiences have decisively rejected Mackie as the successor to the title previously held by Hollywood heartthrob Chris Evans? Has the current political environment left audiences jaded toward a film whose hero is meant to represent our nation’s values? Or does this speak to an ongoing rot and decay within the MCU, wearing it down like the ceiling of a small town Washington movie theater?
The Movie centers on Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, who following the events of Disney+’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” has settled into the role of Captain America, passed down by friend and teammate Steve Rogers. Both on and offscreen, he is a Captain America with much to prove. Underneath his wingsuit he is an ordinary man, with huge super soldier shoes to fill. When the discovery of a new metal even more powerful than Vibranium creates a sensitive geopolitical situation, the remorseful heel General turned President Thaddeus Ross (Played by Harrison Ford following the death of longtime actor William Hurt) entrusts him with helping in the ongoing diplomatic situation, threatened by the actions of a scheming smuggler’s cartel run by everyone’s favorite villain Giancarlo Esposito. Things take a dark turn however, when one of Cap’s friend’s is mind controlled into making an attempt on the president’s life by a mysterious mastermind and ghost of Phases past known to longtime fans as “The Leader.” on the run and racing to unravel the mystery to clear his friend’s name, Wilson and the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres, uncover a plot that goes deeper than they ever imagine, in a story that feels too familiar and often more preoccupied with tying up long standing loose ends from “The Incredible Hulk” than telling a new Captain America story.
Far and away, “Brave New World’s” greatest strengths are its performances, particularly those of Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford. facing great skepticism from fans unwilling to accept him as the new captain America, Mackie acquits himself and his character in spectacular fashion, with the story and performance successfully showing how Sam Wilson makes for a fundamentally different but nonetheless worthy successor to Steve Rogers legacy. Meanwhile, while fans would have wanted to see this come from Hurt’s Ross, Harrison Ford successfully conveys the character as an older, more mellowed out version of the character, who wants to put past rivalries aside for the sake of his country and repair his damaged relationship with his estranged daughter/ Hulk’s ex, Betty Ross. its an unexpectedly sympathetic portrayal of one of the MCU’s bigger background bastards, adding layers to the character that will win over the audiences willing to give the movie a fair shake. While the effects for his eventual transformation into the Red Hulk are a dire product of obvious behind the scenes crunching, the performance delivered by Harrison Ford balances it out, being one of his better roles in recent memory.
The Villain, the nefarious Leader played by Tim Blake Nelson, reprising a role from “The Incredible Hulk” that many casual fans might struggle to recall, blesses the second and third act with a devious and menacing performance behind layers of gnarly effects makeup that will leave fans wondering where this remarkable character actor has been hiding for the 17 years between his MCU appearances.
Regrettably however, “Brave New World” never fully reaches a level of quality worth more than the sum of its parts, with the studio clearly opting to play things too safe in a regressive panic response to its recent failures. The story lifted story beats and themes from previous Captain America sequels, particularly the brainy mastermind and sleeper agent driven plot of “The Winter Soldier.” new characters like Joaquin Torres and Ruth Bat Seraph feel like cheap knockoffs of the MCU’s portrayals of Peter Parker and Black Widow. Even the action packed opener where Cap faces off against the Serpent Society, echoes the opening action sequence of Winter Soldier. Even the Leader, who I consider to largely be one of the movie’s strengths, often feels like he was built to be a composite of Arnim Zola and Helmut Zemo from “Winter Soldier” and “Civil War” respectively. There is little in the film’s plot that hasn’t been done better before, creating a cinematic experience that doesn’t feel very “Brave” or “New.”
Additionally for a movie that partially markets itself as a political thriller, the intrigue at the core of “Brave New World” firmly bites its tongue, making this Washington set thriller entirely apolitical, with nothing of note to say, though oddly prescient in depicting the city being torn apart by a mindless, petulant, geriatric monster in its climax. It is a movie that often wants to feel smart in a way similar to “Winter Soldier’s” commentary on America’s invasive surveillance state, while shying away from the nerve to actually say anything out of fear of alienating part of the audience. But a Geopolitical thriller without any politics feels as hollow as an “Incredible Hulk” sequel without the Hulk, which is another flaw that is difficult to ignore.
These flaws are indicative of a franchise in a clear state of panic that inspires little confidence, certainly not enough to bring butts to seats, and that lack of confidence is contagious. “Captain America: Brave New World” is a well executed but unimpressive rehash of much better films from the peak era of the MCU, trapped in the past and failing to inspire hope for the series’ future. Despite the great performances by its stacked cast, not even the great performance by Harrison Ford can hide the state of clear and present danger the franchise is in, and the decline and decay on full display throughout these patriot games is difficult to witness. In spite of these glaring flaws, the strength of the performances alone are enough to make the movie worth a watch once it lands on streaming, if only those performances were in the service of a better, more deserving feature.
The future of the MCU is dubious at best, with “Thunderbolts*” already looking like another derivative cape flick drawing heavy inspiration from James Gunn’s outlaw superhero teams like “The Suicide Squad” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” with a fraction of the charm exhibited in those films. Hope may be on the horizon however with the promising first look at this Summer’s “Fantastic 4: First Steps” which looks to be following its own vision taken directly from the classic comics of Jack Kirby, playing to the team’s strengths. Only time will tell if the MCU is due for a comeback, but if one thing is certain, it’s that it will not be found here in Captain America’s corner of the universe.
