As Captain America: Brave New World prepares to land this weekend to quite solid box office projections, critics and influencers aren’t too happy with Marvel Studios’ latest. The first batch of reviews is plenty divisive, and so far, Anthony Mackie’s big-screen debut as the new Captain America is among the MCU’s lowest-rated entries with 52% right now.
To put things into perspective: 2023’s dreadful Secret Invasion limited series ranks above it on Rotten Tomatoes with 53% (just 1% more at the time of writing), and below it we find only Eternals (47%) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (46%). Not looking too good there, folks. As always: RT’s percentages represent the amount of critics that gave a movie a pass/thumbs-up and aren’t an actual average score. Metacritic takes care of that, and, uh, it’s sitting at 43 so far based on 41 reviews.
This disappointing (but somewhat predictable) outcome won’t be deterring MCU loyalists from watching the penultimate Phase 5 movie in cinemas, mind you, but it could have an effect on its legs past the opening weekend. In late 2023, The Marvels had the franchise’s lowest-ever box office debut, but some diehards were hoping for a prolonged presence at the box office. Instead, the middling-to-negative reception translated into the sequel being blipped out of existence quite soon.
So far, critics are underlining a lack of narrative focus and the fact this entry largely feels like a straight sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk (really) that happens to feature Sam Wilson as the leading man, all while shoehorning loose plot threads such as the massive Celestial sticking out of Earth after the events of 2021’s already-forgotten Eternals adaptation. Of course, rushed CGI and jumpy editing are said to be present too, but it appears the movie’s problems run deeper than that. Needless to say, it sounds like it doesn’t have a whole lot to actually say about the politics it toys with nor the world we live in.
Last year, Deadpool & Wolverine seemingly proved not only that there was plenty of juice left in the Marvel brand, but also that Marvel Studios could push forward with R-rated movies without fearing a box office slump. In fact, the threequel was the best-performing MCU release since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, many theorised the over-one-billion uptick could be tied to the ‘solo’ power of the two leading characters versus a sudden surge of interest in the universe after a handful of misfires.
Captain America: Brave New World’s numbers partially support this theory (Captain America and Harrison Ford as Red Hulk are more interesting to the casual viewer than Ant-Man or The Marvels), as the blockbuster could ‘make it out alive’ with a decent hold into its second and third weekends, especially with the current international projections looking solid too. However, it’s hard to see it even nearing the $800 million mark, let alone a hefty $1 billion haul. With Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ previews sparking more hype than any recent movies (besides the third Deadpool) from the studio, things could be looking up for the franchise ahead of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, but Captain America 4 surely isn’t a star-spangled win.
What about you? Will you be watching Captain America: Brave New World in theaters this weekend, or are you waiting for the Disney+ release?
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