Captain America: Brave New World: disappointment guaranteed

Luca Fontana

12/2/2025

Translation: Elicia Payne

It should be uncomfortable. It should be brave. But Captain America: Brave New World is ultimately just one thing: another chapter in the MCU that would rather please than make a statement.

First things first, this movie review doesn’t contain any spoilers. Everything mentioned here has already been revealed in trailers.

It doesn’t feel quite as magical as it used to. Back in the days of Avengers: Endgame or Iron Man, every new Marvel film was a pop culture event. And yet, as soon as the red and white logo flickers across the screen, I still catch myself leaning back in my seat with childishly exaggerated anticipation quietly whistling the slogan.

After all, Marvel is Marvel.

After a flood of films, the comic giant recently shifted down a gear and took a break. Is this the last attempt? It’s been a while since Deadpool and Wolverine. There’s no doubt about it, it was a big hit last summer, but also more of an anarchic reckoning on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) than a real chapter in the multiverse epic. Before that? The Marvels, in November 2023, which… well, didn’t exactly move mountains either.

Now Captain America: Brave New World is set to pick up the pace again. Finally. But can a movie about patriotic ideals and broken heroes really realign the Marvel universe?

The plot of Captain America: Brave New World

He’s wearing the badge. Steve Rogers’ badge. The Captain America. But Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) isn’t Steve Rogers. He has no super serum in his veins, no mythical heroic story behind him. He’s just a man – with wings, an unshakeable will and the realisation that the fight doesn’t end just because you have a title.

But after the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the world has left him no choice. And in Captain America: Brave New World, Sam even faces a world that’s still reeling in the chaos of the Blip and has to confront a source of danger where the remains of a Celestial have been rising from the sea since Eternals.

This is precisely why President Thaddeus «Thunderbolt» Ross (Harrison Ford) is trying to stabilise the crumbling foundations with a firm hand. But order comes with a price. New threats grow in the shadows of power, and Sam must find out if a shield is enough to stop them – or if the real battle isn’t fought on the battlefield, but in people’s minds. Because anyone can wear a symbol. The question is: who gives it meaning?

When bravery is just a marketing promise

First of all, no, Captain America: Brave New World did not fulfil my expectations. Not even close. Before anyone thinks it’s my own fault for setting the bar too high, with respect to Marvel, I wasn’t expecting the next Citizen Kane. I just want a movie that triggers something in me. Passion. Surprise. Anything.

Instead, Brave New World left me with exactly one emotion: disappointment. Not because the movie is disastrously bad – at least that would’ve been entertaining (yes, Madame Web, I’m looking at you). But because it’s so… reserved. Average. Nothing more. Ironic, considering that the title suggests exactly the opposite.

Prior to the release, director Julius Onah promised a «realistic, paranoid and political thriller». That sounds like Captain America: The Winter Soldier – one of the best MCU movies ever. In the end, however, we get a movie that hardly dares to be even similarly courageous. The Winter Soldier, for example, questioned safety at the price of total surveillance – and took a clear stance. It was topical back in 2014 and still is today.

Brave New World, on the other hand, looks like a carefully assembled jigsaw puzzle that ticks off checkboxes – except that the pieces don’t really fit together. A bit of The Incredible Hulk here, a touch of Eternals there, and, of course, a few cliches from Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Everything together results in a movie that says less than it claims to.

Perhaps this is precisely the problem – Brave New World wants to say something about identity and values, but doesn’t really know what. What remains is a story that’s ultimately much more absurd than the trailer would have me believe. As I said: sobering.

From a brave new world…

The best example of this? The title: Brave New World. This can’t be a coincidence. For me, it’s an allusion to Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel of the same name from 1932.

The story’s set in a distant future in which humanity lives in a seemingly perfect world. There are no wars, no poverty, no suffering. Society is strictly hierarchical and genetically manipulated. Emotions, individuality and critical thinking are suppressed. Instead, the happiness of the population is ensured through consumption, superficial entertainment and the drug soma.

In the book, society sacrifices individuality and freedom for stability and happiness. In the movie, President Thaddeus Ross could’ve embodied this conflict to a tee. The trailer even suggests that he’s trying to create a perfect world order after the chaos of the blip – in other words, a «brave new world». Whatever the cost.

Without spoiling anything, we’re a long way from that.

… to the flat new story

Shame. Sam Wilson as the new Captain America would’ve been perfect to speak uncomfortable truths as Ross’ adversary. A black man who embodies the symbol of American ideals? This could directly address issues such as structural racism, nationalism or colonial power structures.

Even «Falcon and the Winter Soldier» managed to do the preparatory work for this. There, it was the Flag Smashers who questioned national borders and power structures. President Ross, who’d embody an authoritarian America, could’ve continued in the same vein. Quite literally as the Red Hulk.

Plus, the return of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a forgotten super-soldier who was mistreated and locked away by the US government, could’ve stirred up even more conflict in Sam. How can a country expect him to be the new symbol of heroism when its history excluded people like Sam and Isaiah for decades?

In fact, Marvel had found the ideal candidate for the realisation of such a story in director Julius Onah, a Nigerian immigrant. Especially when you consider that Onah’s 2019 film Luce addressed the fragility of identity and the pressure of social expectations. In my opinion, he’d have had exactly the right perspective to take up these issues again – only this time on a bigger, even more political stage.

But nah. Zilch. Nothing. In the end, the movie’s about as substantial as the weather report. Or a children’s birthday party – lots of noise, colourful pictures, but nobody can really take it seriously.

Yeah, sure, I get it. Marvel has to serve a global audience – from the USA to Europe and China. Any political aspect could cause offence somewhere. Especially when it comes to sensitive topics such as racism, abuse of power and surveillance. So they go with consent over consequence. The result? A movie that wants to do everything right, but doesn’t really dare to do anything – and that’s not enough for me.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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