Is CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD's Rotten Score On Rotten Tomatoes That Big Of A Deal?

Is CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD's Rotten Score On Rotten Tomatoes That Big Of A Deal?

Captain America: Brave New World looks set to be another "Rotten" Marvel Studios movie (according to one review aggregator, at least) but how much does that really matter in the grand scheme of the MCU?

Editorial Opinion
By JoshWilding - Feb 12, 2025 04:02 PM EST

The review embargo for Captain America: Brave New World lifted earlier today and, as we expected after the mixed social media reactions, it's received a "Rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

With 106 reviews counted, it sits at a disappointing 52% which places it right above Eternals (47%) and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (46%). Even The Marvels, Marvel Studios' biggest box office flop since The Incredible Hulk, is "Fresh" at 62%.

Can Captain America: Brave New World turn things around? While we expect many more reviews to be counted in the coming days, reaching 60% - the threshold for a "Fresh" movie - is a challenging feat not even a Red Hulk is likely strong enough to achieve. 

So, it's a "Rotten" movie but how much does that really matter? Captain America: Brave New World is projected to gross around $190 million during its global opening weekend, a solid start which, provided word-of-mouth isn't dreadful could see it eventually become a moderate hit.

With a reported $180 million budget - including reshoots, supposedly - Marvel Studios doesn't have a box office flop on its hands. At least not yet. That second weekend will be key. 

By the time you read this, social media pundits are bound to have already chimed in with talk of "superhero fatigue," while others will be gleefully dancing on the MCU's still-fresh corpse, declaring the genre dead at last. 

Let's put this into context: Marvel Studios has released upwards of 30 movies and TV shows in the Multiverse Saga (we're including second and third seasons in that) and a total of four - including Secret Invasion at 53% - have been given "Rotten" scores by critics. Four. That's hardly a disaster. 

The days of the MCU being able to do no wrong are clearly gone and several of the projects referenced above have underperformed, be it in terms of viewership or box office receipts. Something needs to change as we head into the next Saga - fewer streaming shows will help with the quantity over quality problem - but the MCU isn't dead.

Even so, we'd put money on this being made while Kevin Feige's attentions were elsewhere, especially as it started shooting during what Deadpool accurately described as a "low point" for the franchise.

Still, even if Captain America: Brave New World is now the worst-reviewed movie featuring the title character, a $400 million - $500 million global haul should be enough to justify a sequel and ensure Sam Wilson gets to wield the shield beyond the next Avengers movies. 

We probably wouldn't hire the director of The Cloverfield Paradox for that follow-up, though. 

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.

Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Will End Its Global Box Office Run Among The MCU's Lowest-Grossing Movies
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CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Will End Its Global Box Office Run Among The MCU's Lowest-Grossing Movies

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HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/12/2025, 4:11 PM
bobevanz
bobevanz - 2/12/2025, 7:43 PM
6.1 on IMDB is the real score. [frick] RT and their fake ass aggregate. Why should a 99 and a 60 have the same amount of pull? That's ridiculous
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14513804/
lvcl
lvcl - 2/13/2025, 5:33 AM
@HashTagSwagg -


This is the MCU current level. The same as Eternals, Quantumania or The Marvels. Pure bullshit!

Touching our balls with the woke communist ideology and politics.

Fans are tired and sad enough of all of this
Baf
Baf - 2/13/2025, 11:36 AM
@bobevanz - Everyone knows that RT scores are only a big deal when rating a DC or Sony movie.
Latverian
Latverian - 2/12/2025, 4:13 PM
Yes, it is.

It still was back then when every other cinematic universe was only beginning, it still is now that the first and (still) greatest of them has clearly lost its mojo.

First step towards solving any problem is to acknowledge it, and this kind of ostrichism is not helping.

At all.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 2/12/2025, 5:55 PM
@Latverian - I agree with you to an extent…

The MCU might have lost a bit if its mojo which is bound to happen with any franchise that has rapidly expanded this much but as you said , you need to acknowledge the problem first to solve it…

However it seems like they already have when Iger said they were slowly doing production but people forget that projects like this were still happening at the time and were in works during the Chapek era which is where the issues started so I don’t see us feeling the effects of that hopefully positive change until later this year iif not next since we have maybe only 1 project left from that.
Latverian
Latverian - 2/12/2025, 6:04 PM
@TheVisionary25 - I totally get what you're saying, but we are already halfway through this Multiverse Saga, so I hope I'm coming across as a pragmatist and not a pessimist when I say that it all feels just "too little too late". Now, am I excited for Thunderbolts and F4? You bet. But I will admit that my expectations are a bit lower given this movie's reception.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 2/12/2025, 6:32 PM
@Latverian - I get yah but again sadly this saga has had changes of leadership at Disney , a Pandemic and 2 strikes so I think it’s a bit of miracle we have had anything “good” during this Saga

Anyway , hopefully the remaining projects in this Saga are better received and once we past this then Marvel can hopefully reclaim its glory days.
pmackattack
pmackattack - 2/12/2025, 9:40 PM
@Latverian - It's challenging with all of these phase four and phase five movies because they were created in an odd period of time. So there needs to be a little bit of give and take because of that. With Bob Chapek requiring so many Disney plus shows, the pandemic stopping, starting, and halting production, and writers strikers, it's a wonder any of these movies have been even decent. I think some of these problems will come out in the wash honestly. I also think the professional critics have largely tired of Marvel fare and their reviews are disingenuous to the actual product. It's far more reliable to listen to a number of reviewers who you know are thoughtful, non-shill reviewers and lean on them for an actual aggregate of quality production. For example, Dan Murrell liked it, was thoughtful about the parts that were bad, but made compelling and viable arguments for what was good. Just calling something rotten without much discussion is, in my opinion, a poor job of reviewing something. It's also how you can see the majority of critics of used the word empty. Instead of having a unique thought they've just aped the views of every other reviewer.
Latverian
Latverian - 2/12/2025, 11:10 PM
@pmackattack - I'm subscribed to Dan Murrell, I saw the review you were referring to. I was glad to see him and Kristian Harloff go easy on the movie, at least compared to others like Jeremy Jahns. Still, it doesn't change the fact that the movie is, at least from the looks of it, a return to phase 4 formula, when the franchise needs to return to phases 2 and 3 instead.

But anyway, I'll see the movie tomorrow. Good thing is those reactions have lowered my expectations, so I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 2/13/2025, 5:55 AM
@Latverian - Dans not really one (from what I’ve seen of his reviews) aswell as Kristian to take it easy on a film so maybe they genuinely enjoyed it?.
Latverian
Latverian - 2/13/2025, 8:04 AM
@TheVisionary25 - Just seen it. To put it mildly, not a fan. Tons of issues that I may get into in another article, but in all honesty, I fear the trolls' incessant burying of this film is loud enough to drown out any legit criticisms from those of us who want this franchise to improve.

Coming back was a mistake. This place deserves its fate.
pmackattack
pmackattack - 2/13/2025, 11:07 AM
@Latverian - I’d love to hear your thoughts. I think that’s my biggest issue with this place. People are negative but have no intelligible reason why. You can’t have a conversation without genuine points and positions. It’s the same with blindly loving something.
Latverian
Latverian - 2/13/2025, 12:01 PM
@pmackattack - I appreciate your interest, but I'd honeslty rather have the trolls repeat their nonsensical whining than give them actual fodder to criticize this movie with.

You know, like it's 6 years after Endgame and their greatest complain is still their dreaded "she's not alone" scene, and not an actual plot hole like Clint earning the Soul Stone but Tony using it, which goes against the rules established in Infinity War.

And that's just one example of several. I hope you see why I choose to refrain from humoring these idiots.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 4:14 PM
Nah! I'll still see it to form my own opinion like an adult.
Batmangina
Batmangina - 2/12/2025, 4:17 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - That is VERY grown up. I picture you on the way to the theater like this:

User Comment Image
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 4:20 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - The question was “will it affect the box office?” It probably will to some extent. There has to be some movie goers that take reviews seriously.

But word of mouth is far more important.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 4:31 PM
@Batmangina - And I picture you as some triggered neckbeard with his panties in a twist...

See, I can be snarky as well.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 4:33 PM
@mountainman - Word of mouth is important, but plenty will still see the movie if there's some interest, which the MCU has plenty of.

Not everybody lives and dies by Rotten Tomatoes...
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 4:42 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - I didn’t claim they did. I think bad reviews affect box office to an extent sometimes. But there is no formula for it. We’ve seen poorly reviewed movies do well and well reviewed movies do poorly.

My only point is it will affect BO to some extent. Maybe it’s only a $50k loss. Maybe it’s only $10 loss because 1 person decided not to see it. Maybe it’s millions.

We will never know. I also don’t judge movies based on RT scores. I’ll be watching at home on D+ down the road and would have even if it got 100% on RT. This is more due to life busyness and not wanting to get a babysitter for seeing it. My wife and I prefer date nights outside of movies so we can actually spend time together, I don’t go to movies on my own, and my male friends and I do more active things when we hang out. Just situational for me. But SOMEONE out there goes off of reviews.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 4:50 PM
@mountainman - Well of course it will, which is why I said it matters to some extent. However, when you have a franchise that is over a decade old and generates Billions, you'll still have a loyal fanbase that will give these films the benefit of the doubt over Rotten Tomatoes. Yeah, it can lose millions over Rotten Tomatoes, but it'll still make millions with how popular the MCU is.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 2/12/2025, 4:58 PM
@mountainman -
WOM is more important for sure

User Comment Image
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 5:12 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - I’m predicting between $400-500 WW. Until we know the true budget, it’ll be tough to know if that is profitable or not. Certainly not the result they wanted, but not a complete disaster.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 5:31 PM
@mountainman - True, I've heard there's some confusion over the actual budget of this thing after reshoots.
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 5:58 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - That only matters to studio profits, not individual enjoyment. Doesn’t matter what reviews or box office are to your enjoyment.

I loved the Dungeons and Dragons movie and it was a huge bomb.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 6:18 PM
@mountainman - Again, that's common sense. If the enjoyment nets an actual profit for the masses is always the big picture. Movies that get panned all the time get sequels because they make bank, which goes back to my earlier point of audiences not hanging on the word of Rotten Tomatoes.

For example, Adam Sandler movies are notorious for shitty Rotten Tomatoes scores but are HIGHLY successful.
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 6:35 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - It’s impossible to ignore the sentiment change with Marvel over the last 5 years. Now the cause of that sentiment change is not easy to identify, and is likely to be from multiple causes.

The overall machine needs to make money for the MCU to continue, but one project won’t make or break them.

I do find it interesting to note that the biggest earners post endgame were featuring characters from Sony and Fox. My takeaway is that the MCU is not providing projects that are as popular as before.

But does that matter? Not exactly. I watch stuff I like and don’t watch things I don’t like. I imagine many people do the same. Some might be influenced by critics or RT score but I don’t think that is a huge factor.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 6:55 PM
@mountainman - Well of course the Machine needs to keep making money, but I'll agree at least that there's some superhero fatigue nowadays. I'll even admit that after Endgame the quality of the MCU has went down somewhat. There's still good projects, but the Infinity Saga seemed to have a clearer direction.
mountainman
mountainman - 2/12/2025, 7:28 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - Hopefully what we have heard from behind the scenes is true and that this was the last one produced before the change in direction. And hopefully that means a return to more consistent quality and better BO (just to keep the machine running and us getting more quality projects).
RolandD
RolandD - 2/12/2025, 7:39 PM
@Goldboink - You might wait until you have seen it to spread WOM.
Batmangina
Batmangina - 2/12/2025, 7:41 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - ME RN

User Comment Image
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 7:47 PM
@Batmangina - LOL
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 2/12/2025, 7:50 PM
@mountainman - Hey, if they can get the writing quality up to the standards it was when the story was leading up to the showdown with Thanos I'm all for it. The first few phases had a clear direction, and the story was better for it overall.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/12/2025, 8:09 PM
@Batmangina - How did you find that?
User Comment Image
Batmangina
Batmangina - 2/12/2025, 8:53 PM
@HashTagSwagg - It's a selfie 😏
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 2/12/2025, 9:08 PM
@Batmangina - Brother?
User Comment Image
Batmangina
Batmangina - 2/12/2025, 9:19 PM
@HashTagSwagg - User Comment Image
Yetiman
Yetiman - 2/13/2025, 2:05 AM
@mountainman - what do you mean change in direction? The reshoots?
CreateNowSlpL8r
CreateNowSlpL8r - 2/12/2025, 4:14 PM
"Can Captain America: Brave New World turn things around?"


No. For anyone paying attention, this is not a surprise. They advertised the movie around another character who is only in it for 7 minutes.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 2/12/2025, 4:15 PM
it sure as hell mattered to you when you used it to promote the other disney crap you manipulative woman
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