With 2024 only seeing one theatrical release from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World has quite a lot riding on Sam Wilson taking up the mantle. With reshoots and rewrites taking place throughout the film’s development and production, many Marvel fans wondered if this fourth entry in the Captain America series would manage to live up to its predecessors. With Anthony Mackie’s Cap taking on villains like Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leader, and a fiendish president in Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, there’s a lot on Wilson’s plate. Luckily, Brave New World is a meal well worth dining on.
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Captain America: Brave New World gives us a Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who is months, if not years, into his role as the Star-Spangled Avenger, working in tandem with the United States government. With General Thaddeus Ross (Ford) elected as the new president, Sam is attempting to both mend fences with an old “frenemy” and heal a wounded nation. Unfortunately for both parties, the issue of the “Celestial Island” and the long-awaited arrival of adamantium to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have thrown the world into a tailspin. Teaming up with the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), Sam must navigate a variety of challenges in both the espionage and superhero departments.
This is the first film in the series that has left Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers on the sidelines with Anthony Mackie taking the reins as the shield-slinger and luckily, there aren’t many complaints when it comes to Mackie shouldering the mantle. The movie doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to both the strengths and weaknesses that Sam Wilson has compared to the man who started it all, and this works well in the storytelling. Mackie himself is charmingly affable and knows how to get serious when the situation demands it. Many might have wondered if Mackie would be able to live up to the legacy left by Evans, yours truly included, and we’re happy to report he makes for quite an excellent Cap here. You truly get to witness the journey of Sam coming into his role as the new Captain America and it makes you want to see more of him in the future (luckily, Avengers: Doomsday is a little over one year away).
Of course, Mackie has some major headaches to deal with here, specifically in the form of Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross. Ross has quite a bit of history in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played previously by the late William Hurt, and while Ford is clearly in a league of his own in the acting department, Hurt’s performance was nothing to sneeze at. Luckily, Ford is given plenty to work with here, running the emotional gamut of attempting to cement his legacy as a newly elected President while trying to mend bridges with his daughter, Betty (Liv Tyler). He brings layers to Thaddeus as a man who is struggling with his actions as a General, president, and father, and Ford captures the torture in all of his past mistakes.
When it comes to villains, though, there has been one that has stuck closely to the shadows in much of the marketing for Brave New World. Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns, who Marvel fans might know as The Incredible Hulk villain, The Leader, is the grand puppet master of the entire film and Nelson is clearly having fun with the role. There’s a delicious malevolence in Nelson’s portrayal of the gamma-charged genius here, even without needing to crack wise in the same vein as many Marvel villains have done before him. There are some truly great pieces of dialogue that the Leader gets in Captain America 4’s run time that make him well worth including in the film as a foil to both Wilson and Ross. The Leader has always worked as a mental threat to Marvel heroes and Brave New World captures that aesthetic quite well.
One of the biggest surprises of Captain America: Brave New World was how it lived so well in the shadow of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There are a few funny moments but, for the most part, Brave New World is a film that takes itself quite seriously and truly dives into its more mature overtones throughout. Gone are aspects of the multiverse and wise-cracking variants muddying up the screen and instead, Brave New World takes a much more grounded approach to the film’s benefit. (Well, as grounded as a film can be where the President of the United States transforms into a Red Hulk during a press conference and decimates the White House in the process.)
Ironically enough, the sheer number of themes and plot beats that Brave New World is trying to cram into its sub-two-hour run time is both a blessing and a curse. The latest MCU movie moves at a breakneck speed to weave together its interesting premise, but in doing so, misses out on the opportunity to dig deeper into some of its more interesting elements. Sam gets a few scenes to digest his differences with Steve Rogers, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) has to emotionally come to terms with being a part of a government that destroyed him in more ways than one, and the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large as a parallel to our own world is also a worthy subject to tackle. That’s perhaps the biggest weakness of the film, in that many of these story beats could have used much more time dedicated to them to help reinforce their themes overall. Had Captain America: Brave New World had an additional half-hour of run time, many of these themes might have been made stronger with more chances to breathe.
Speaking of weaknesses, much like the themes of the film itself, Esposito’s Sidewinder feels more like a means to an end rather than an antagonist who stands on his own two feet. Giancarlo is a fantastic actor and he feels somewhat wasted here. When you hear the rumors of the changes that were made to the movie, including the loss of WWE’s Seth Rollins as another member of the Serpent Society, you can’t help but think about what the story was originally supposed to be.
Captain America: Brave New World has its flaws but it’s a movie that works quite well as a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what said universe can still achieve when it really puts its mind to it. This sequel might not stand toe to toe with Captain America: Winter Soldier, but it certainly follows in its footsteps, much to the benefit of moviegoers.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on Friday, February 14th.
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