Deadpool & Wolverine was Marvel’s sole movie for 2024, but the studio’s got a larger output in 2025. First up is Captain America: Brave New World, the first movie for Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson after he took the mantle in 2021’s The Falcon & Winter Soldier.
If things have been weird for Marvel post-Avengers: Endgame, Brave New World is in its own special category. Pre-release, the movie was hit with a comically bad streak of luck like production delays during the Hollywood strikes, negative test screenings leading to multiple reshoots (which have been repeatedly downplayed), and supporting characters like Sabra being tweaked or wholly excised from the movie. Add in the real-world context of the current United States administration and an increasing hostility toward anything potentially critical of the country, and despite some pretty good trailers it seemed like this movie would be a mess and all over the place. And after all this time, it turned out to be….a mess and all over the place.
Reviews and impressions for Brave New World haven’t been kind. While there’s been praise toward Mackie and Harrison Ford’s performances and some of the action scenes, the film’s story and whatever it’s trying to say (or not say) have gotten the harshest criticism. The fraught production makes itself known for many, but for others, this is another good Captain America movie that does enough to be a decent kick off Marvel’s 2025 slate. Marvel’s no stranger to divisive anything lately, but this one’s probably going to be debated about for a while as people try to figure out what this almost was and became what’s in theaters playing now.
Loved Brave New World, hated it? Wish there was more Red Hulk? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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