Depending on where you live, Captain America: Brave New World may already be playing in theaters near you. Critics in the U.S. got to watch it for the first time yesterday evening, though, and the first social media reactions have landed.
We're sure you've already read through those, but what do they tell us about 2025's first MCU movie? In this feature, we're taking a deep dive into those and getting into some potential spoilers.
The reactions range from "an MCU return to form" to "convoluted and dull," suggesting the reviews will be as mixed as those for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels. Below, you'll find more on that, which movies it's a "sequel" to, whether the reshoots are as bad as we've heard, and more.
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5. It's A Sequel To The Incredible Hulk And Eternals
The MCU kicked off in 2008 with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. The latter was plagued with issues behind the scenes and failed to reach the same heights as Tony Stark's MCU debut. As for Eternals, it will forever live in infamy as the MCU's first "Rotten" movie and, like The Incredible Hulk, has several unresolved plot threads.
The good news is that Captain America: Brave New World addresses some of those; the bad news is that Captain America: Brave New World is a sequel to two MCU movies widely considered bad by most fans.
As Mike Ryan puts it, "[The movie] seems to only exist to wrap up loose ends to The Incredible Hulk and Eternals. And in doing so the plot is about as convoluted and dull as that all sounds. This should have been called Captain America: Loose Ends."
4. The Reshoots Are Obvious
It's no secret that Captain America: Brave New World underwent extensive reshoots. Those are the norm for Marvel Studios, but in this instance, it appears they couldn't fix a movie that may have had glaring issues from the script stage.
"You can feel the reshoots throughout the film," writes one critic with another adding, "You can see the stitches where the rewrites/reshoots are, which leads to missed opportunities and potential." Another goes as far as stating, "The soul of the film feels lost in all the reshoots."
We can't help but wonder whether some people were seeing things that aren't there, especially as the reshoots have been a huge talking point online for months. And, with another calling them "pretty seamless," it might be best to keep an open mind.
3. Sam Wilson IS Captain America
It's important to note that Captain America: Brave New World is being praised (we'll get to that soon), and almost everyone agrees that Anthony Mackie effectively cements Sam Wilson as the MCU's Captain America with this movie.
The highest praise in that respect comes from David Thompson who shares, "Anthony Mackie fills Chris Evans' shoes seamlessly as Captain America. No one is more deserving to hold the shield than Sam Wilson." As expected, Harrison Ford also steals the show. The Leader, on the other hand, has been deemed a disappointment.
Many moviegoers likely didn't watch The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, so it was essential that Captain America: Brave New World do right by Sam in advance of him leading a team in Avengers: Doomsday. Mission accomplished.
2. It's Not All Bad News...
While the reactions are undeniably mixed (which may not bode well for its eventual Rotten Tomatoes score), Captain America: Brave New World is being praised. For example, Erik Davis declares, "Marvel is back! Cap is back! Julius Onah's #BraveNewWorld is a more ground-level MCU film that's heavy on action and full of political intrigue."
"It does what it should and is entertaining blockbuster action," another critic adds. "Anthony Mackie kicks ass as Captain America. Loved it. A great entry into the MCU."
For the most part, though, it's hard to ignore the fact that most feel Captain America: Brave New World falls short. Hating on the MCU has become the go-to for many critics and does every Marvel Studios need to break new ground or can we just have fun watching Cap battle Red Hulk?
1. The Post-Credits Scene Isn't Good
The vast majority of critics have been careful not to give too much away about Captain America: Brave New World but several of them have pointed out what a let-down the post-credits scene is.
That's leaked online and, unfortunately, they're not wrong. It's awkwardly shot - another telltale sign of reshoots, perhaps? - and teases Avengers: Doomsday in a heavy-handed, frustratingly vague manner.
Opening weekend projections alone suggest Captain America: Brave New World will be far from a disaster and it's hopefully the final movie from the Multiverse Saga's "quantity over quality" era.