Captain America:
Brave New World

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD 🇺🇸

The first Marvel movie to release in 2025 currently stands as the second highest-grossing movie of the year (behind the surprise hit Minecraft) and is third globally (behind Minecraft and the Chinese animated sensation, Ne Zha 2). So you have to wonder, if that many people are seeing it, what was with all the hate?

BRAVE NEW WORLD is also the first non-Chris Evans-led CAPTAIN AMERICA movie, where the mantle now, after the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, officially belongs to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).

The story follows Sam as the new shield bearer, with (potential sidekick) Joaquin Torres, as they look to take down a high-level national security threat. Once they return from their successful mission, they are invited to the White House by former General, now President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), who has brought them there as a token of respect, with an idea to bring back the Avengers and to introduce the rest of the political figures to a newfound substance known as adamantium (insert X-Men theme here). The White House event takes a turn for the worst when one of Sam’s guests attacks Ross, which ends up creating conflict among the world leaders, with no one knowing that a shadow from the past is puppeteering an end to the world that went on without them.

Like most of the multiversal saga, CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD is a serviceable watch, and in some parts of the first half, actually enjoyable, but the continued use of convoluted, lackluster builds to villains who have forced motivations is starting to grow tiresome. I say that knowing I’ll continue to watch every Marvel movie until the very end because there’s a level of comfort knowing how this world works as an audience member who has grown with it over the last decade.

My biggest worry going into this is that I still haven’t bought into Anthony Mackie as a leading man. I actually think this movie does Anthony Mackie, who does a stellar job of standing tall when he has the toughest of shoes to fill, a disservice and would’ve been better served doing a story that acted as a buffer to his new reign, which could’ve been a prequel movie about Isiah Bradley. Bradley’s story is infinitely more compelling than Sam’s and could’ve been used as a launch pad for Sam to not only honour Steve Rogers but also pay respect to a fellow Black man whose history was erased.

Going back to the box office aspect of this, I don’t think there’s superhero fatigue; I think people are still hungry to love what’s unfortunately become predictable.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD has all the nuts and bolts of your average Marvel movie, but its strong start fizzles out fast, leading to a forgettable installment in the MCU. 

Enjoy!

6.1/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 1hr58mins

Where: Streaming on Disney+
Post-Credit Scenes: 1 ✅

Captain America: Brave New World Review (2025) The Richmond Reviewer - April 30th, 2025.

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