Nerdly » ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review

13th Feb2025

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review

by Matthew Turner

Stars: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson | Written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, Peter Glanz | Directed by Julius Onah

Anthony Mackie steps into the title role for the fourth movie in the MCU’s Captain America series, following the events of TV’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, somewhat unexpectedly, the film also turns out to be a direct sequel to The Incredible Hulk, albeit one without Bruce Banner in it. The result, unfortunately, is something of a mixed bag.

Captain America: Brave New World opens with Sam Wilson (Mackie), the new Captain America, on a mission for the US government, lead by newly elected President (and former Hulk hunter) Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). When he finds himself slap bang in the middle of an international incident in which his friend Isiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) was apparently brainwashed, Cap has to uncover the nefarious mastermind behind the incident, and figure out the ulterior motive.

Along the way, Cap receives help from new trainee Falcon-slash-tech expert Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and secret service operative Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), a kick-ass former graduate of the Black Widow program. Meanwhile, President Ross appears to be hiding a deep dark secret. But whatever could it be?

Unfortunately, that secret turns out to be the film’s main problem, because the intended big reveal has been completely spoiled by both the trailer and the film’s marketing campaign. Look away now if you somehow know absolutely nothing about the film at this point, but – spoiler alert – Thaddeus Ross turns out to be the Red Hulk. Given that revelation’s prominence in the trailer, you could be forgiven for thinking that it happened halfway through the movie, and the rest of the film would be all-new Red Hulk action, perhaps with some character development, or some other characters from the Red Hulk comics. But no, it’s the climactic fight scene, which means you essentially spend the entire movie waiting for the Red Hulk to show up, and when he does, it’s a few minutes of smashing things and that’s it.

To that end, the whole thing feels like a huge wasted opportunity – nobody even makes a “President Hulk” joke. And while there is some joy to be had in seeing the Red Hulk (let’s not call him Rulk) smash up a familiar building (particularly given its current real-life inhabitant), it’s a shame that the script didn’t actually allow the character to speak. (For the record, in the comics, the character is very articulate and the Red Hulk episode of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes does him much better justice).

There’s a deeper problem, in that this doesn’t really feel like a Captain America movie. For one thing, Sam’s new costume is basically an upgraded Falcon costume with red, white and blue wings, and the only thing that remains of the Cap we know is the shield. Worse, the film completely fails to address the significance of having a black Captain America in the first place.

Mackie carries the film well enough, under the circumstances, but his character is painfully underwritten – we learn nothing about his personal life, for example. There’s no sense of a character arc for him here either, and even the climax has an “Is that it?” feel to it, and the one moment that looks like it might actually go somewhere dangerous is quickly thrown away.

On the plus side, Ford is superb as Ross – he could easily have just coasted with a variation of his grumpy old man routine, but he really puts the effort in here, and it pays off. If anything, it pays off a little too well – you’re basically in real trouble if your backstory is more interesting and more dramatic than your actual story and that’s essentially what happens here.

There are some supporting turns too. Giancarlo Esposito is good value as Sidewinder, one of the heads of the Serpent Society (frequent Cap villains in the comics), while Tim Blake Nelson fulfils his pre-ordained comics destiny by reprising his role from The Incredible Hulk, complete with a make-up job that is certain to please long-term comics fans.

There are other rewards for comics fans too – Torres and Bat-Seraph both have comics counterparts, for example. On top of that, the action scenes are decent, but there’s nothing that really stands out, other than a couple of Red Hulk moments towards the end.

Truth be told, Captain America: Brave New World feels like Marvel going through the motions, treading water until the planned Secret Wars storyline gets underway. Even the time-honoured cameos and post-credits sting (just the one this time) are disappointing.

In short, this is watchable enough, but there’s no trace of the old Marvel magic that fans might have been hoping for. Also, calling the film “Brave New World” seems an almost laughable decision, because there’s nothing brave or new on display here, and the film completely refuses to take a meaningful stand of any kind, by, for example, having Black Captain America actually stand for something. It’ll probably sell a lot of Red Hulk toys though.