Captain America: Brave New World is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It dropped this weekend under pressure from heavy expectations as a Marvel product. Marvel Studios is hoping to bounce back after a lackluster reception to not only their recent cinematic outings, but some of their recent TV miniseries as well.
The film stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson. Wilson was given the mantle of Captain America by the OG, Steve Rogers, near the end of avengers endgame. In fact, there was an entire Disney+ miniseries, devoted to Sam’s reluctance to take up the mantle, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
I mention TFATWS because in of the biggest criticisms I’ve heard of BNW is that too much of the movie revisits the theme of Sam feeling overwhelmed by the legacy of Steve Rogers. It does come up in the movie, but it is a part of the Sam Wilson Captain America. He doesn’t have the super soldier serum. He is effectively, a soldier with a cool suit. but as BNW tells us, repeatedly, it’s Sam’s heart that makes him worthy of being Captain America.
The plot feel a bit derivative of The Winter Soldier – which isn’t really an insult because TWS is perhaps my favorite Marvel movie of all time. The story focuses on the discovery of Adamantium, another super strong metal ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics. This time, however, the source of the metal is Celestial Island. Remember The Celestial who turned to stone as he was trying to come out of the Earth in The Eternals? This is that island.
Present Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (yep, the character from 2008 The Incredible Hulk, now played by Harrison Ford) has put together a coalition of willing countries to peacefully mine the Adamantium from Celestial Island. As it often turns out, there are other, diabolical forces at play during this time and Captain America and his new Falcon have to solve the mystery of who is being manipulated by whom.
While being a sequel to the Captain America trilogy, Captain America: Brave New World is in many ways, a follow up to The Eternals, continuation of the falcon in the Winter soldier and a spiritual sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. One doesn’t have to see all of those projects to understand the plot of BNW, but it does help
There was a lot of talk to me about the extensive reshoots needed for BNW. More often than that, these shoots lead to a very disjointed story. Well, I’m not familiar with the original premise of BNW, or which scene were shoots, I didn’t feel that it disjointed the movie in anyway. given the presence of Isaiah, Bradley and BMW, it would’ve been a perfect time to continue the story of Elijah Bradley, Isaiah‘s grandson who later becomes “the patriot“ in Marvel comics Young Avengers. Brave New World does have a lot going on, and I think one more sub plot would’ve made this movie even choppier than people are already perceiving it to be
Brave New World does offer one, forgettable post credit scene in which the leader warns Samuel Wilson of “other heroes another worlds, and they are fighting for their worlds, just as you are“ which seems to be laying the groundwork for Avengers: Secret Wars. Personally, I would like to have seen a mid credit scene, or even a throwaway line about the Canadian government getting some demand for themselves; less setting the stage for everyone’s favorite Canadian mutant to appear on the MCU Earth . If you know, you know.
FINAL TAKE: Captain America: Brave New World is a great jumping on point for the post Endgame MCU. If you haven’t bothered with other Marvel projects since Avengers: Endgame, this is a good time to come back. If you’ve been disappointed by the last few Marvel projects, brave New World is definitely a shot at redemption for the franchise. Well, it doesn’t reach the height of the winter soldier, it is another great Captain America espionage thriller. BNW also does a good job of tying up several loose ends from previous movies as well as setting the table for what is to come in the Marvel cinematic universe. Recommended, to all MCU fans.
Captain America: Brave New World is now playing in theaters
The Incredible Hulk, The Eternals, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are streaming on Disney+
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