Captain America: Brave New World is now in theaters, and even though the latest MCU movie looks set for a fairly strong opening weekend at the box office, the critical reception has been mostly negative (its Rotten Tomatoes score has now dropped to 50%).
One aspect of the film that has come in for the most criticism in the negative reviews is the "choppy" editing in certain sequences, as well as a sense that the plot lacks cohesiveness and a strong narrative drive. This is certainly debatable, but there have been reports of extensive reshoots and major changes being made to the story very late in the game.
While speaking with Phase Zero, director Julius Onah downplayed these reports.
"We did one period of additional photography," he told the podcast. "Which is the same on all of these movies. There are so many variables, and [additional photography] becomes essential to fine-tuning and coming up with a thing that we know audiences will love."
The filmmaker also addressed the negative reviews: "You make the best movie you can, you put it out there, and you let audiences react to it."
Audiences do seem to be getting more out of Brave New World than critics for the most part, but one thing that's been met with almost universal backlash is the movie's post-credits scene featuring Sam Wilson paying a visit to Samuel Sterns in his cell on the Raft.
The Leader makes a few vague references to some "others" that Cap and his new team of Avengers are going to have to contend with, seemingly seeing up the events of Avengers: Doomsday.
“That came together as we were also just thinking through, ‘How do you want to resolve the storyline of Samuel Sterns?’ and, ‘How do you want to tip the hat to what’s gonna potentially be coming?’” Onah explained. “I am not gonna give any spoilers on Avengers because that’s not something I would do and not something that frankly I have spoilers to give, but I will say, there are things this is teeing up, that I think are gonna be really exciting for audiences.”
Onah continued, “As we know, Captain America has historically been a leader of the Avengers and, in terms of ‘The Others’ that are coming, there’s gonna be a lot of fun possibilities that the subsequent movies can play with.”
Check out some interview snippets at the links below.
Have you been to see Brave New World yet? Let us know in the comments section, and drop back later on for our poll and spoiler discussion.
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, 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.
Captain America: Brave New World also stars Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.