Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
N8 reviewedMarch 24, 2025
Man, the decision to show Red Hulk in the trailer? That felt like a real punch to the gut. It robbed what could have been a genuine "holy crap" moment in the theater. Honestly, it made me wonder if they didn't have enough faith in the movie itself to draw people in without that big reveal.
Was it a train wreck? Nah, not exactly. But it definitely landed in that "meh" zone. There was a ton of explaining going on, and it kept hitting these familiar beats that felt a bit tired. The whole "hero's buddy gets hurt" thing felt like a straight-up rehash of the Rhodes incident in Civil War, and while the dynamic with President Ross was different from the Cap/Secretary Ross tension, it still felt like we'd seen this kind of conflict before. It all had this "paint-by-numbers" vibe that was hard to shake.
Strangely enough, I got this distinct impression that the movie was trying to give a nod to the old, often forgotten Hulk movie in the MCU. It had this weird sense of recognition, almost like how Deadpool & Wolverine is clearly winking at those early Marvel flicks. It was an odd touch.
One thing I did appreciate was that it didn't feel like a two-hour commercial for the next five MCU projects, which has been a major drag in the post-Endgame era. It actually tried to tell its own story while still acknowledging the bigger picture (yeah, yeah, the Celestial in the ocean, still crickets apparently). That was a definite plus in my book, but not enough to make me regret not waiting for it on Disney +.
And can we please, please retire the trope of people shooting at Hulks? Seriously? We're this far into the MCU, Hulks are practically household names, and someone even manages a "didn't know they could be red" line! It's just mind-numbingly dumb to watch people unload bullets into something that's clearly impervious.
Bottom line? Captain America: Brave New World wasn't offensively bad, but it felt like a missed opportunity. The lack of surprise, the recycled plot points, and the head-scratching character decisions made it a decidedly skippable theatrical experience. I'm definitely wishing I'd just waited for it to hit streaming.