Captain America 4 Is a Bigger Hit Than Rotten Tomatoes Suggests, But 3 Major Problems Could Still Doom It

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Posted 1 days ago by inuno.ai

Category: Animations & Comics

As much as fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hoped things would go well, Captain America: Brave New World is doing decently at the box office. Notably, the critics aren’t as kind, with the Rotten Tomatoes score at fifty percent. It feels like a middling entry, which is disappointing given how movies like The Winter Soldier and Civil War impressed audiences.

Many deemed it clunky and disjointed, to the point that the director, Julius Onah, had to dispute reports that re-shoots affected the movie and the overall narrative. Admittedly, it does feel like it was doomed from the start. However, Marvel Studios had some simple solutions to avoid this, which were, sadly, ignored. Had they been employed, this could easily have raked in more money and struck postive chords with critics.

Captain America 4 Felt Like An Infinity Saga Remnant

Sam’s Story Is Bogged Down By The Past Captain America Narratives

Captain America: Brave New World, Red Hulk, Sam Wilson, Isiah Bradley — Image by Surya Punjabi

Sam Wilson and Thaddeus Ross fight each other as Captain America and Red Hulk.

Captain America 4 Sets Unfortunate CinemaScore Record for the MCU

The first MCU entry this year is not setting up good records.

In terms of plot, Captain America 4 really feels like a movie from the old MCU. And not in a good way. It has way too many homages to The Winter Soldier, to the point it comes off like a ripoff with all its spycraft and the idea of the Sentinel of Liberty going rogue against the authorities. Outside of that, it’s just too attached to the past. This kills its creative motion.

When The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came out in 2021, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson officially donned the Captain America costume. It had momentum as Avengers: Endgame occurred two years prior with the handing off of the shield. In reality, two years is the average time for sequels to hit and truly resonate. Thus, 2023 would have been the best time to have Captain America 4 have its own identity, while feeling like part of the future. Remember, Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home ended the Infinity Saga in 2019, so there needed to be something fresh about this Captain America movie, which is part of Phase Four (i.e. the Multiverse Saga).

Captain America 4 Details

Release Date	Metacritic Rating	IMDb Rating
Feb. 14, 2025	42%	6.1/10

The MCU should have struck when the iron was hot because Captain America 4 was basically a bridge between both periods. However, that balance isn’t there. It’s in limbo in a sense. It’s still bogged down by the Flag Smashers, Sam feeling sympathy for them, and being torn over if he should have taken the super-soldier serum to be more effective. For all of these elements to resonate, the MCU shouldn’t be pushing them in 2025.

They feel dated, obsolete and irrelevant — a problem Fox had by the time it brought out its New Mutants movie. Secret Invasion suffered from this, too. Nick Fury was already working with the Skrulls before, so that TV series felt like Marvel Studios was forcing a story for the sake of what happened in the comics. It was a sequel to Captain Marvel that came too late and felt too repetitive. These narratives feel like they’ve arrived at the party too late.

Captain America 4 Doesn’t Push the Multiverse Saga Forward

Sam’s War Feels Disconnected From the Multiversal Threat

A close-up shot of Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Brave New World. — Image via Marvel Studios

Captain America: Brave New World Secretly Solved Its Own Biggest Problem 4 Years Ago

Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World has an identity crisis that the MCU had the formula to fix thanks to a Disney+ show back in 2021.

This poor timing is something the MCU needed to avoid because there are already existing properties that didn’t push the Multiverse Saga forward. In the Phase Four movies, Black Widow was an unnecessary prequel that came after Natasha died. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever remained confined to Wakanda. Some of them do well commercially, but movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Spider-Man: No Way Home do feel like they’re better fits.

They, along with the third Ant-Man film, talk about portals, alternate realities, different dimensions and the Multiverse. It builds to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars where Earths will collide and be destroyed. Fans will always gravitate to movies and the affiliated shows (WandaVision, for example) that speak to the larger picture. It’s all about that overarching tapestry. Captain America 4, honestly, doesn’t add to this. In Steve’s journey, the Infinity Stones factored in, as well as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes fraying — angles hat strengthened Thanos.

This flick, though, like a monotone side-quest just to bring Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk out and have Sam active with his new Falcon. But all it does is retread the same political story the previous Captain America movies dissected: don’t trust the government. It also regurgitates Sam’s woes as a Black Captain America. Not that these arcs are bad to tackle. But by waiting so long to bring them out, they feel more like style than substance. Six years after Endgame and four years after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier streamed shapes an afterthought that the MCU is obligated to put out. There just isn’t that feel of big consequences or massive dominoes being tipped over for the future as nothing changes from Sam’s TV show.

Captain America 4 Is Suffering From Real-World Politics

USA’s Political Drama May Deter Fans From Seeing An Egotistical Ross

Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) wearing a suit and tie in front of Captain America: Brave New World poster

‘Not What I Expect’: Captain America: Brave New World’s Carl Lumbly on His Heroic Resume

Captain America: Brave New World star Carl Lumbly tells CBR about Isaiah Bradley’s movie return – and his surprise at playing so many superheroes.

Another major issue is that Captain America 4 comes out right after the recent U.S. Presidential elections. Given how volatile the landscape would be, Marvel should have tried to unveil this way before. No matter what, political views will sway how many folks go to theaters in markets like America. As it stands, America is experiencing a major governmental crisis.

That could impact critical and fan reception of the film, in addition to story issues. Some fans just wouldn’t want to see an oppressive, fascist Ross barking orders that are tantamount to fascism. His arc has colonial overtones, notes of white supremacy, as well as elitism, privilege and entitlement. He goes as far as to invade Celestial Island to steal adamantium and break a treaty. The moment fans hear this happens, it can remind them of Donald Trump’s stance on Gaza, Greenland and the Gulf of Mexico. Bad word of mouth can spread, especially online.

That can turn people off as they want escapism, not to be saturated with real-life politics. Throw in how Trump started threatening trade wars with China (Hollywood’s other major market) and other allied countries, like Canada, it could have had people thinking it’s economically better to wait for streaming. It saves money, especially for families who want to hit movies together, and gives critical thinkers peace of mind.

Captain America 4 Had Two Fixes For Success

Brave New World Needed Old Man Steve Rogers and An Earlier Release Date

‘We Had to Make the Tough Decision’: Why 1 Young Avengers Character Was Cut From Captain America: Brave New World

A Young Avengers character was in early drafts of the Captain America 4 script.

To guarantee success, this movie should have closed off the Infinity Saga. Or came out immediately after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier concluded. It would have stayed relevant, but more so, the Captain America 4 post-credits would have made more sense. It has Samuel Sterns using his genius as the Leader. He tells Sam that he is predicting a major event (i.e. Secret Wars) coming. That would have whet the appetite better years ago.

Instead, this sequence doesn’t feel emphatic at all. It’s playing catch-up. Everyone knows what’s happening already. If it came before, Sterns would have been a bigger villain and garnered more interest. His moment arrives when people are simply looking towards Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. It reiterates that the MCU messed its timeline up, leaving Sam’s full outing feeling thin.

Secondly, the probability of success would have been higher had Chris Evans as Old Man Steve Rogers been in a supporting role. This would have created proper connective tissue to the previous Captain America movies, as well as Endgame. In the comics, Old Man Steve ran the Secret Avengers and was a Watcher-like figure planning for big wars. This would have kept fans hooked, not just because they love Evans, but because this would have organically continued the evolution of Sam and Steve. Merely hiding Old Man Steve away in the MCU and not intervening feels so uncharacteristic. The fact Sam doesn’t even seek Steve’s help when he’s in doubt is also odd.

It may be Evans was too costly to bring back. But the fact he may return for future movies, and that Downey Jr. is back, suggests the MCU could have ponied up dough. The Russos and the Captain America writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) are back, too, so one has to think had this movie been done earlier, it would have fit so well into what Marvel Studios wanted with a creative team that brought Sam into play. And which made billions along the way. Ultimately, everything looks good in hindsight, but even from the trailers, it was easy to see Brave New World was going to feel out of place. Unfortunately, the MCU has to pivot and move forward, which won’t hopefully detract from the touted arc of Sam leading the Avengers in the next era of incursions and variants for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Captain America: Brave New World is now in theaters.