In 2011, the world saw Chris Evans portray the iconic Captain America for the first time. Steve Rogers became one of the pillars of the Avengers franchise and helped Marvel dominate the box office for more than a decade. When Evans’ journey ended, the studios chose to pass the torch to the Captain’s adventure companion. It was time for Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon to put on the Captain America suit and wield the iconic shield.
The path to this new Captain America: Brave New World (2025) had been paved since Avengers: Endgame (2019) and solidified with the arrival of the Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021). The stage was set, and Anthony Mackie would leave behind his days as Falcon to now step forward with the shield on his shoulder—without the super-soldier serum that helped Steve Rogers become Captain America—to defend the planet.
Falcon was never the cleanup hitter of the team; his role was more that of a sixth or seventh man. But with the star hitter off the team, he’s suddenly called upon to fill that role. The assignment comes at a time when Marvel is going through a drought following years of absolute dominance and at a moment when the franchise is clearly showing signs of wear. Unfortunately for him, this new installment follows the same disappointing path as recent Marvel releases.
Captain America: Brave New World is a soulless film. The script, credited to three writers, is clumsy and at times even ridiculous. Trying to replicate the spy-thriller tone that accompanied previous Captain America films, Brave New World attempts to immerse us in geopolitical conflicts and international intrigue, but it ends up being just a sequence of scenes meant to set the stage for special effects showcases and perfectly choreographed fight sequences.
Not even the experience of Harrison Ford and Giancarlo Esposito can help us connect with the characters in Captain America: Brave New World. Anthony Mackie is charismatic, but it’s impossible not to compare him with his predecessor, only to realize the gap is too wide. Disposable antagonists and an excessive reliance on nostalgia mean that not even the power of that Red Hulk is enough to save this latest Marvel entry.