By I know on this very website; I’ve stated my overall disappointment and displeasure with the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe multiple times. It probably seems like some cruel joke that I would wind up reviewing Captain America: Brave New World for Flixist, but here’s the thing: I did legitimately want to see this movie. There was one good reason for that, too. Red Hulk.
While Hulk was never my favorite superhero as a kid, through conversations with my best friend, I’ve come to understand the pathos behind the character and what he represents. It’s also not hard to see how horrible the MCU has bungled the character across its various films, with The Avengers standing as probably the sole exception where the character was done pretty well. After reading how Brave New World was incorporating several enemies from The Incredible Hulk and his history, I figured this would be some kind of apology for how poorly Marvel has treated its “jolly” green giant.
I’m not sure why I expected anything better, but at least Red Hulk was cool. Without him, though, I have no idea what this movie is even really about or why anyone with creative control decided it should be a Captain America film.
Captain America: Brave New World
Director: Julius Onah
Release Date: February 14, 2025
Rating: PG-13
The basic plot of Captain America: Brave New World not only relies on developments made in the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but surprisingly picks up from the events of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. After winning an unshown election to the highest office in the nation, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) is now president of the United States. Five months after his election, he sends Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), now Captain America, to Oaxaca, Mexico to stop the sale of stolen classified items by the Serpent Society. Headed by Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), the Serpent Society is a rogue group of special operatives with a distaste for American politics.
During this mission, Sam is aided by Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), who is trying his best to assume the mantle of Falcon. Sam is able to stop the illegal sale, but Sidewinder gets away. Despite this, Ross invites Sam and Torres to the White House to be a part of the announcement of his new peace treaty, which rests on the US sharing its supply of newly found adamantium with the world. Sam insists that Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a former super-soldier, be invited as well so they can give some closure to the man for how poorly the US government treated him. During Ross’ speech, however, Isaiah goes berserk and attempts to shoot the president along with a few other individuals. Seemingly, something is afoot and it’s now on Cap and Ross to figure out what went wrong.
While I wouldn’t say that you need to have seen every piece of MCU footage before going into Brave New World, the movie makes no concessions for people who haven’t been keeping up with the franchise. That’s understandable being that this is the 35th film in the MCU, but even my condensed summary should reveal how complicated the setup is here. Right from the get-go, too much is going on in Brave New World for any single beat to feel fully developed and that’s an issue that follows along even after the credits roll.
© Marvel Entertainment
Now, if you have any passing knowledge of Captain America: The Winter Soldier or its direct follow-up, Civil War, you’ll likely already have a hunch about what happened to Isaiah Bradley. Being that he was part of the super soldier program, it stands to reason that he was brainwashed with some code words into attempting to kill the president. When reviewing footage, both Sam and Ross’ head of security, Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), see a strange flash happen on Isaiah’s phone before he pulls out a gun. The other guards were also triggered right after the song “Mr. Blue” began to play. Why brainwashing wasn’t the first assumption from any of the characters is anyone’s guess, but the plot tries to have Ross belittle Sam for not being Steve Rogers and moves with the angle that Isaiah was acting with full consciousness.
It’s a gigantic contrivance just to have Sam start digging into Ross’ past, which reveals that Ross has been frequently visiting a CIA black site in West Virginia for the last 16 years. Just as this is happening, the movie remembers that Sidewinder was a thing and we get a quick and dirty fight between the two that has basically zero stakes attached. Sam apprehends him despite taking a bad hit and Sidewinder is put into custody. As that is happening, Ross has a falling out with the Japanese government over the attack and his peace treaty is now in jeopardy. He then receives a call from an unknown party who starts to reveal that he has been behind everything the entire time.
Since I’m doing a lot of recapping instead of actual reviewing, let me quickly wrap this bit up to save you from needing to see the film. Ross is being manipulated by Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), a scientist last seen in The Incredible Hulk who gained ridiculous intelligence when some of Bruce Banner’s blood leaked into his wounds. Ross came down with a medical condition and went to Sterns when nothing else worked. Sterns then used that as leverage for a plan that took nearly two decades to unfold and somehow needed Sam Wilson’s Captain America to be set into motion. How he did all of this from a CIA prison that was off the grid and under constant surveillance is anyone’s guess, but most of this feels like rewrites were the culprit. Also, Sterns knows how to brainwash anyone, yet couldn’t manage to escape captivity.
© Marvel Entertainment
As you know from the trailers, this results in Ross eventually turning into the Red Hulk and going on a rampage at the end. That isn’t before we get a ham-fisted reference to The Eternals for some god-forsaken reason and Falcon proves to be just as worthless as before despite some upgrades. Cue some flirting with the idea of having political and social messaging before chickening out and saying that the president is actually good deep inside despite ripping apart most of D.C.
The biggest trouble that Brave New World has is that its titular hero doesn’t feel like he belongs in this film. Anthony Mackie actually takes to the suit and shield pretty well, but his presence simply doesn’t amount to much of anything in this story. You can tell that most of the plot beats are trying to recapture the same kind of Tom Clancy-esque intrigue that Winter Soldier had, but the revelations all relate to a character that isn’t here: the Hulk.
It would have been one thing if this film centered around Sam’s racial identity and his lack of superpowers, but apart from a couple of lines, this is never touched on. I know it was really too much to expect that Marvel would make a statement on the status of black Americans in 2025, but when Black Panther managed to weave a touching message about culture, heritage, and adaptation into its core themes, there is no excuse for Brave New World to completely fumble the ball. Maybe that is because The Falcon and the Winter Soldier already touched on it, but then why is Sam even here? He doesn’t have a character arc and while the film does eventually conclude that Steve picked Sam for his steadfast dedication to his ideals, it feels like it came out of nowhere.
© Marvel Entertainment
Ross, at least, has some kind of story going on. While it requires you to believe he was actually instrumental in the MCU behind the scenes for more than a decade despite appearing in only six films, the movie at least reveals that he still has some humanity in him. His decision to run for president was based on the fractured relationship he had with his daughter, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) following the events of The Incredible Hulk. He wanted to show her there was more to him than being a power-hungry general and while I think leaning into those qualities would have made for a more compelling villain, Harrison Ford’s acting brings a tragic quality to Ross’ predicament. His eventual transformation into Red Hulk is equal parts sad and exciting.
But as I said above, why is this a Captain America movie? The most compelling parts are continuations of The Incredible Hulk and they feel at odds with how this movie is supposed to be setting up Sam Wilson as the next leader of The Avengers. Early on, Ross proposes restarting The Avengers to Sam, although marketing material for the upcoming film Thunderbolts* has already spoiled where things go. Anyway, when Captain America isn’t even the focal point of your overall story and his presence could be swapped with almost any other character, you haven’t written a good story.
Almost immediately after I left the theater having watched this, I was concocting ideas in my head about how the Hulk could have been incorporated into things. I get there is some legal thing going on between Disney and Universal (who own the film rights to Hulk), but putting Captain America in could have been a way around that. If the movie was focused solely on Ross instead of trying to incorporate two other villains, Sam could have hit a point where he was totally powerless against this new threat and needed to call in backup. While that might depict Sam as weak, I think it would show he is a smart leader who can convince others to fight with him. It would also give a dramatic payoff for Bruce Banner, a character who has felt like a punchline in the MCU for far too long.
© Marvel Entertainment
My fantasies aside, a faulty story wouldn’t be such a bummer if the action choreography was any decent. The beginning brawl in the church where Sam shows off his new duds is fun, though graded with overly dark color timing, but only the ending with Red Hulk really comes close to doing anything interesting. Since Sam’s only abilities are punching things and throwing a shield, that’s a lot of what we get, and the action is edited to hell and back. There are so many quick cuts and misaligned shots that the geography of most locations winds up being a total blur. At one point, Sam is flipping over a table, and in the next shot, he’s already on the ground.
The battle with the fighter jets at that ridiculous Eternals reference island is also so poorly composited and framed that I’m at a total loss for what to say. I think back to Iron Man 3 where Tony Stark had to save people falling from an airplane and how that was legitimately shot in the air. It looked so intense and had such immaculate editing, but it also was exciting because it was real for the most part. Here, both Cap and Falcon feel like they are in completely different rooms and the framing is so close that it feels more claustrophobic than anything.
When Ross does finally hulk out, it not only feels like we stepped into a completely different movie, but it brings an energy the entire film had been missing. You can tell the budget went entirely into this moment because the CG buildings, extras, and even the Red Hulk all look good. The film also finally showcases a Hulk that feels indestructible with Ross destroying half of the White House, using the flag as a baseball bat, and nearly crushing Sam’s skull with his fist. I do appreciate that the conclusion sees Sam appeal to Ross’ humanity rather than win with brute force, but the terrible compositing of Mackie over older footage sort of sucks the humanity out of things. Also, why the hell are the cherry blossoms CG?
© Marvel Entertainment
I’m sure there was a better way I could have reviewed Captain America: Brave New World, but so much is wrong with the overall film that I wasn’t really sure how else to approach it. There are far better pieces already online that touch on the awkward politics of its messaging and since I’m not some MCU diehard, most of my complaining might seem like an old man yelling at a cloud. Even if I am ornery and old, that doesn’t excuse Marvel putting out this dud.
There are some good elements to this movie and I would say it’s not as awful as people are making it out to be, but Captain America: Brave New World does not set course for a new world. It’s the same old Marvel slop we’ve come to expect. If this is what the future for the franchise looks like, then maybe it’s good we won’t ever get to see that long-delayed Blade film.
