Captain America: Brave New World (2025) is directed by Julius Onah and stars Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Johannes Hakur Johannesson, and William Mark McCullough. This is the 4th installment in the Captain America franchise, but this time follows Sam Wilson (Mackie) after he adopts the titular mantle. When former Secretary General turned U.S. president Thaddeus Ross (Ford) enlists Sam to help him reform The Avengers, the two form a shaky alliance in order to build toward a brighter future. After a devastating international incident, their relationship sours when Ross begins making a series of bullheaded decisions that needlessly inflame tensions. Although Ross is convinced that “The Forgotten Captain,” aka Isaiah Bradley (Lumley), is behind the incident, Sam is certain a bigger conspiracy is at play. With help from the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Ramirez), Sam sets out to find the true culprits before Ross’ growing rage sends him over the edge. 

Although the film ultimately feels like a step down from its predecessors in the sense that it lacks Chris Evans’ iconic portrayal of Steve Rogers, Mackie’s Sam Wilson leads the film remarkably well. This could’ve easily felt like a shameless attempt to replace Steve Rogers, but Sam’s previous appearances throughout the MCU have built his character in a way where this feels like a natural transition. Whether you like the idea of Sam adopting the mantle of Captain America or not, any other direction would’ve felt unearned and/or unnatural. It’s no surprise that Mackie nails the character’s emotional scenes – he’s a fantastic performer. However, what really sets his version of Captain America apart is his unique fighting style/use of “powers.” The action combines the best elements of Cap’s shield and Falcon’s flight suit in order to stage some truly engaging sequences. This provides just enough to distinguish Sam’s version of the character but not so much that he feels like a different hero entirely. 

As for the supporting cast, they’re mostly effective in their various roles. Danny Ramirez provides effective comedic relief that, for the most part, emulates the dynamic that Steve & Sam previously shared. This is fun, but a part of me does wish the writers could’ve found a more unique dynamic between the two. Carl Lumbly is unsurprisingly fantastic in his role as Isaiah Bradley. His veteran delivery allows the film’s often unfocused explorations of racial inequality to avoid feeling sententious. Espositio and Nelson are serviceably menacing as the film’s villains. Nelson, specifically, is a lot of fun when considering how much the script allows his character to chew the scenery. The only disappointing character here is Shira Haas’ Ruth Bat-Seraph. Although her performance is fine, the character is indistinguishable from the other countless, badass female secret agents that the MCU enjoys introducing like they have a quota. I fully understand her inclusion when considering that she’s the film’s only notable female character, I just wish she had at least one defining/unique characteristic. 

Although the supporting cast is serviceable at best – pretty good at worst, Harrison Ford as President Ross is often the movie’s saving grace. He commands the screen in his old age as well as he did when he was Hollywood’s go-to leading man. Even though this is a Captain America solo film, it feels more in line with co-led MCU “solo” films such as Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). My only issue with the character comes from the fact that his otherwise shocking third-act transition into Red Hulk was completely spoiled by almost every piece of the film’s marketing. If this wasn’t revealed, I could’ve seen the film having a much more positive reception. One of the story’s biggest issues is that its secrets/mysteries are neither secretive nor mysterious. Spoiling Red Hulk’s inclusion allows the viewer to piece things together in the first fifteen minutes alone. It’s yet another case of Disney sacrificing the tens of millions of dollars that a quality movie would most likely generate at the box office for a guaranteed fraction of that money in advance ticket sales/opening weekend. It probably works every now and again for them business-wise, but it’s also a clear Catch-22. If they just focused on making a quality movie, they’d fail/succeed the same amount. The difference is the consumer would receive a quality product more consistently. 

The movie is fast-paced, action-packed, and visually clean, but it’s all edited in a way where its various reshoots are clear as day. There are multiple moments where it’s clear that certain shots were filmed much later on. Subtle differences in the lighting as well as clear shifts in the aspect ratio don’t ruin the experience in any significant way, but they do momentarily break immersion. These reshoots were clearly added to make the story more efficient, but it also makes everything feel very surface-level. Almost every moment is used for one of three things: action, character, and plot. This a great, but it forgets about one key ingredient: Theme. Everything moves, but it lacks any time to reflect on what’s going on or, in other words, what it all means. It’s fun, but fun is all it has time for. 

Despite the fact that this is yet another lackluster and somewhat inconsequential addition to the MCU that features a good portion of the storytelling and marketing missteps that currently plague the IP, it’s one of the more purely enjoyable Marvel experiences in recent memory (excluding anything Deadpool related). Mackie is a likable successor to Evans, and the movie is entertaining from beginning to end (even if it makes you roll your eyes now and again). Disney’s handling of the marketing was plain stupid, to say the least, but it shouldn’t matter too much upon a rewatch. That being said, there’s no doubt that the majority of people would like the movie significantly more if their first experience wasn’t entirely spoiled beforehand. C+