Kevin Feige Believes CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Underperformed Because It Didn't Feature Chris Evans

Kevin Feige Believes CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Underperformed Because It Didn't Feature Chris Evans

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has reflected on Captain America: Brave New World's negative reviews and poor box office performance, sharing his belief that the movie struggled without Chris Evans.

News
By JoshWilding - Jul 22, 2025 06:07 AM EST
Source: Deadline

Captain America: Brave New World opened earlier this year to 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and ended its run at the global box office with a disappointing $415 million.

The movie got caught up in 2023's Hollywood strikes, but was also heavily reshot. All of The Leader's scenes were scrapped, the final battle removed Isaiah Bradley and Sabra, and Giancarlo Esposito's Sidewinder replaced the Serpent Society. 

Marvel Studios clearly attempted to fix a movie that wasn't working, but the result was one of the studio's biggest letdowns. Where did it all go wrong for Captain America: Brave New World? Well, according to Kevin Feige, the movie didn't work because it "was the first without Chris Evans."

Anthony Mackie led the cast as Sam Wilson, the MCU's new Captain America. Avengers: Endgame ended with Steve Rogers presenting the former Falcon with the shield, but that was six years ago, and Marvel Studios decided to explore his transformation into the new Captain America in Disney+'s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. 

With the benefit of hindsight, it would have been a wise move for a new Captain America movie to be released in 2021, chronicling Sam's evolution into the star-spangled superhero. Marvel Studios was under a mandate to create new streaming content, though, so it is what it is. 

As we reported yesterday, Feige has also weighed in on why Thunderbolts* (which received positive reviews) similarly underperformed. "Thunderbolts* was a very good movie, but nobody knew that title, and many of those characters were from shows," the Marvel Studios President explained. "There was that residual effect of [audiences going], 'I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is?'"

Moving forward, Marvel Studios will release one TV series per year, and it won't be so closely connected to what happens in theaters. While the shows will be there for fans and non-fans alike to enjoy, it seems the goal is to make it so that the MCU no longer feels like homework. 

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 is now streaming on Disney+.

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SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 7/22/2025, 6:13 AM
Who would've thought that the vast majority of people don't like severely discounted versions of legacy characters
CaptainFlapjaks
CaptainFlapjaks - 7/22/2025, 9:46 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - do you think cap 4 would have done well if they really did decide to pass the cap torch (ha chris evans joke) onto Sebastian stan's bucky? They teased it in all 3 cap films and it never happened. I remember each time they teased it, it got cheers.
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 7/22/2025, 10:16 AM
@CaptainFlapjaks - 100% although id still just prefer the real captain America
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 10:26 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - Steve Rodgers IS the only Captain America. You can try and replace Bruce Wayne with Dick but audiences will never accept it for more than one film. There is a reason these characters are so popular and a copy and paste will always be rejected. Fans want to see Steve and Tony interact with the Fantastic Four, X Men, etc. we barely have seen Steve and Spidey together. We want the OG’s!
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 7/22/2025, 10:54 AM
@Bucky74 - that's what im saying man. Just recast steve Rogers, Tony stark , thor etc
ImNotaBot
ImNotaBot - 7/22/2025, 10:57 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - Also the movie is bad, the script is bad, they made terrible choices with the reshoots, the movie is a discount version of CA:TWS and Mackie is not a good lead. I really like him as Falcon but hes not a good lead at all.

For me this new Cap only works with Bucky as a buddy cop movie like Lethal Weapon.
CaptainFlapjaks
CaptainFlapjaks - 7/22/2025, 11:01 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - not against their choice for sam, but i felt there was always a more compelling tale with bucky cap. Having to navigate being a former hydra/russian superspy while representing america. How would the public deal with that news? Also him having to live up to his best friends legacy. And its a story of redemption
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 11:04 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - absolutely. And when they do, maybe film a montage sequence with those actors and their MCU history (Tony in the cave making his suit, Cap fighting Red Skull etc) to ingratiate fans with those characters and make them feel as “lived in” as Chris and RDJ’s characters did. But bring them back! It’s been long enough and characters come back in the comics all the time. I think Wong is great, but I want to see Steve fighting and teaming with Scott Summers and Storm not Mackie, and most fans feel the same
Baf
Baf - 7/22/2025, 11:06 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - I never understood the re-cast issue. Comic books change artists all the time.
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 11:34 AM
@CaptainFlapjaks - That would have been cool for one film (especially since him and Steve share close to the same history), but ultimately, Steve must come back. Steve will always be Captain America
CharleyBologna
CharleyBologna - 7/22/2025, 1:47 PM
@Baf - Same. Just get someone else to play the role of Evans is worn out.

I like Mackie, but he's not a leading man. New Black Panther has the same issue, trying to elevate a side character to lead is tough business and doesn't always work.
Baf
Baf - 7/22/2025, 3:54 PM
@CharleyBologna - I too always saw Mackie as a real good ensemble guy, but I also think Evans dodged a bullet with this one.
Canyoublush
Canyoublush - 7/22/2025, 6:20 AM
No shit Sherlock. I’m glad Kevin realised the error of his ways. If he really wanted the movie to succeed financially a Chris Evans cameo would have added another 100-150 million to its box office tally. Not that it would have made a difference to the film but it certainly would have drawn more attention to it nonetheless.
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 10:29 AM
@Canyoublush - DEI demands that Disney doubles down, so I propose that they bring Steve back and have them both be Cap. The MCU is big enough for two Captain America’s
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 6:21 AM
So editing that movie to death, 3 times reshoot, bs story wasn't the fault but not featuring Steve Rogers was. Ok feige whatever you say.

User Comment Image
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/22/2025, 6:26 AM
@Martianhunter - User Comment Image
rockinsokinrobo
rockinsokinrobo - 7/22/2025, 6:32 AM
@Martianhunter - exactly where the comic book writers of year past to help make a comic book a comic book movie. Fiege clearly has no vision. Mcu had a blade concept movie but coogler made a vampire movie with the clothes off the blade movie.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 7/22/2025, 7:38 AM
@Martianhunter - Well a lot of that was necessary cause they couldn't figure out how to make Captain America movie work without Captain America.
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 7:52 AM
@KennKathleen - I really doubt that. We had proper handover from Rogers to falcon in Endgame so audience were already aware. It was script problem through and through, they removed whole plot, 3-4 times reshoot, editing till before release and final "product" clearly shows that.
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 7:56 AM
@rockinsokinrobo - I won't go that harsh on kevin "will show butt naked men, head to toe burka clad women" feige but I agree they do need a different person in-charge.

Also this might be more of Disney problem.
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 8:34 AM
@Urubrodi - In that case, we never actually saw real captain America. I'm sure a man from 1930-40 would behave completely different in morden world than what was depicted on screen by Marvel.

User Comment Image
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 7/22/2025, 8:56 AM
@Martianhunter - they micromanaged the hell out of the movie and probably made it worse

This is the type of thing people killed DC for with Snyder even if I don’t like his movies we gotta be consistent , Sony too.
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 9:21 AM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - Yes. Marvel definately need better writer atleast. What else is wrong there? we probably won't know for next 30-40 years.
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 7/22/2025, 9:45 AM
@Martianhunter - trying too hard to overcorrect their plans from 2020. But instead of leveling out it’s like a tailspin made worse
LenSpiderman
LenSpiderman - 7/22/2025, 9:46 AM
@KennKathleen - this. Sorry, but mackie is great as Falcon being Falcon doing Falcon stuff. The Falcon we’ve grown to like in these movies doesn’t work in the role of cap as we’ve grown to know him in these movies. But the movie itself was a boring mess.
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 11:40 AM
@Martianhunter - Yes and No. look at WW 2 vets. They all seem to share the same patriotic values and pride in our nation. Granted it was a different time and a different mindset but most supported their fellow men and women no matter the color of their skin or gender. Even when they interview African American vets, most only see the colors of our flag and their is a beautiful purity in that that has been lost thanks to victim hood politics. I think Steve as portrayed in the films is a decent example of most men of the time.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/22/2025, 12:12 PM
@Martianhunter - The did the same thing to a lot of successful movies too. You're a crtical thinker when it comes to the art of movies so you may not even be able to compute what I'm about to tell you, but Quality ain't that important when it comes to a movie's box office success.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/22/2025, 12:15 PM
@Martianhunter - A proper handoff would've been a continuation of the already established friendship between Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Isaiah.

Miyagi-like mentorship, shield tricks of the trade, training for future dangers, strategies etc.

There is a wealth of story there, but MARVEL & Feige are putting to much into the actors, and far too little into the characters.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/22/2025, 12:17 PM
@LenSpiderman - No need to apologize to me- I fully [frick]ing agree!
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 12:32 PM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - Oh that much is already evident for movie itself. I think there are other things like Executive, multiple actors asking to add unnecessary things they want, adding politics, micro-management, ego, etc
Martianhunter
Martianhunter - 7/22/2025, 1:06 PM
@Bucky74 - Agree to disagree then. We have Vietnam vet laughing and sharing he killed multiple, same with Korea, Iraq, Afgan etc. Couple of examples below and I'm not even mentioning that cap was created solely for propaganda in 1941, instead these are real world examples


https://www.historyhit.com/examples-of-anti-japanese-propaganda-during-world-war-two/

Now Cap was not evolving over time instead he is a man who froze all this time. I'm sure his standards would be completely different.

Also Army never wants to show their bad apples and they would always cover it. Recent example, Tim Kennedy openly boasting killing civilians in Iraq and Afgan and lying altogether https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/article/ufc-vet-tim-kennedy-reportedly-under-investigation-after-admitting-to-lying-about-military-service-record-181117808.html

Marcus Luttrell comes clean about Lone Survivor:
https://theiceman.substack.com/p/marcus-luttrell-comes-clean-about
CharleyBologna
CharleyBologna - 7/22/2025, 1:50 PM
@LenSpiderman - Yep, Falcon isn't a leader. Also Mackie isn't a lead.
CharleyBologna
CharleyBologna - 7/22/2025, 1:53 PM
@Martianhunter - The point of Steve Rogers is that he was the best of us as a skinny kid in 1941 and that means he would be the best of us in the 2010s. He's not typical - though I reject your attempt to broad brush men of the time as you have - but rather exceptional.
Bucky74
Bucky74 - 7/22/2025, 5:45 PM
@Martianhunter - Nam was a different beast. We should never have been there. Soldiers were killed left and right, and PTSD was the norm. WW2 was a different time and a different war. I'm sure there were some bad soldiers, but WW2 soldiers were heroes who came back to a celebration. Nam vets were sent back broken and shunned
Sinner
Sinner - 7/22/2025, 6:25 AM
That and the fact it wasn’t very good. You don’t present a new Cap in a mid af movie and expect people to embrace it. It’s a very hard rewatch.
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 7/22/2025, 7:27 AM
@Sinner - Seen it twice in theaters, gave it 4.5/10 both times.
rockinsokinrobo
rockinsokinrobo - 7/22/2025, 6:27 AM
Fiege full of it. The story was psss poor support telling. Fiege uses the name of story line but hasn’t developed the wide variety of character of marvel. A list stars why? I don’t need Oscar Isaac as Marc just give me regular actor who can play the severity of mental health not a think piece Where the story. Folk did not know crap about guardians but had fun with. Thunderbolts had suicide squad issues. Humans fighting a Superman powered villain. Could have fought anyone . Marvel hasn’t built up heroes or villains.

Fiege showing he needed a counsel to help direct this ship.
Lokiwasright
Lokiwasright - 7/22/2025, 6:55 AM
@rockinsokinrobo - mcu has had a Villian problem since iron man 2.

Only Loki and Thanos has been successful vills
DS616
DS616 - 7/22/2025, 7:14 AM
@rockinsokinrobo - It failed because it released during a time where the MCU as a connected universe has lots its momentum and hype level so most people don't feel they *need* to see every single movie like they did for years, which is why average movies featuring irrelevant characters like Ant-Man ended up making more money than a Captain America movie featuring a Hulk.

This exact same movie could've released in 2015 and it would've doubled its box-office.
AC1
AC1 - 7/22/2025, 6:28 AM
Having finally watched the movie, I think the real reason is that the script was underdeveloped and the movie ended up feeling very generic and a bit of a mess.
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