Captain America: Brave New World opened in theaters this past February to mixed reviews. When all was said and done, the movie grossed only $415.1 million, a disappointing result made worse by reshoots that led to characters being cut and a complete overhaul for The Leader.
In attempting to figure out where things went wrong for Sam Wilson's first solo outing as the MCU's Captain America, fans have suggested that Red Hulk shouldn't have been shown in the movie's trailers.
That way, The Leader and Serpent Society could have been marketed as the main threats, with perhaps only a few hints about Red Hulk's debut helping increase intrigue and excitement for the movie. It's a compelling argument, but not one Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah necessarily agrees with.
"I don’t think so," he told Empire Online when asked if that would have been possible. "When you’re making a movie like this, an announcement goes out that Harrison Ford is going to play Thaddeus Ross, and you have a fandom as massive and as passionate as the MCU fandom is, you’re toast at that point, you know?"
"In a perfect-case scenario, it would have been awesome [if ] that [had been] an in-theatre surprise, but I think it would have been very difficult," Onah continued. "Somewhere along the way, a toy would have been found, or somebody would have leaked a trailer. It’s just so hard to keep anything secret in today’s day and age."
He's not wrong, and the movie's release date delay (caused by 2023's Hollywood strikes and the eventual need for reshoots) meant our first look at Red Hulk came last year courtesy of a Happy Meal toy. Those also highlighted Diamonback, a character absent from the final cut.
The bigger shame is that Captain America: Brave New World's trailers showed so much of the Red Hulk battle, especially when he didn't a huge amount of screentime in the movie.
Onah later noted, "You’ve got a movie with a guy flying around with vibranium wings, you’ve got a Red Hulk, I love that stuff. But it only really matters if you care on a dramatic level, and on a thematic level, about the human side of it."
"In thinking about Sam and thinking about what he would represent as a Captain America, and what’s so powerful about the idea of him wearing the Stars And Stripes, is this notion of it representing a kind of progress, and to renew this idea that a group of disparate people can come together and share a vision and sense of hope and possibility."
"I know that sounds a little Pollyannaish," the filmmaker concluded, "but if we aren’t believing in a shared vision of a world or nation or community, what are we doing?"
In Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam Wilson 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.
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The movie is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
"Flawed but functional, Captain America: Brave New World's many problems are largely forgotten any time Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford electrify the screen," we said in our review. "And when Red Hulk shows up, the movie reaches new heights of awesome."
Captain America: Brave New World arrives on Disney+ on May 28.