Captain America: Brave New World is an Uninspired Superhero Sequel

Captain America: Brave New World

★ ★

Captain America: Brave New World is the latest cinematic offering from the Marvel universe where Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is the next Captain America after Steve Rogers, the former Captain America, retires. Sam must find out who tried to assassinate newly elected president Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford). Sam hasn’t been Captain America for very long and is trying to adapt to the weight this title carries. He’s also been tasked with reassembling The Avengers, a group of Marvel Comics superheroes who work together to fight massive threats against the Earth and the universe.

If you’re a little lost from that first paragraph, it’s because you sort of need to understand the films that preceded it, or at least have seen the conclusion to Avengers: Endgame. This is my first problem with the film. You need to be familiar with a lot of source material to really enjoy it.

Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures

Prior to becoming Captain America, Sam was another Marvel hero, Falcon. This hero wears a robotic suit that’s virtually indestructible, and his superpower seems to be mostly contained within his ability to operate it. As Captain America, Sam seems to have an upgraded suit, or at least has had it painted and styled to resemble the American flag.

In addition to finding his way as Captain America, Sam is training a soldier named Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) to take his place as Falcon. Together, they work to intercept a mysterious package that one of the movie’s villains, called Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), is trying to sell to an unknown buyer.

Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures

This could be a symptom of superhero movie fatigue, an actual result of bombarding oneself with too many superhero movies, but I found the screenplay had too many unimportant pilot points and sequences that did little to advance the story or growth of the characters. By themselves, these sequences were okay and sometimes fun. All together, they were a hodgepodge mess.

Red Hulk attacks Washington DC
© 2025 Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures

Brave New World rarely shows us anything new, and the story isn’t all that brave. To me, it came across more as a stepping stone to advance us to another series of Avengers films.

There’s enough action, explosions and fighting to entertain audiences, yet there’s very little substance behind the action to drive home a good story. This seems to be the modus operandi of the last few Marvel movies – lots of flash, little bang.

This new journey for Captain America is supposed to drum up excitement for the next phase in the Avengers saga. Without a better roadmap, I fear these movies are about to drive off a cliff. Given where the series is now, even that’ll lead to a forgettable, anticlimactic crash.