Captain America: The First Avenger was a solid introduction for the MCU's Steve Rogers, but the Star Spangled Avenger's franchise didn't fully find its footing until The Winter Soldier. However, by the time Civil War rolled around, Cap's movies were every bit as monumental to the wider MCU as The Avengers.
As a result, we're not exactly surprised to learn that Marvel Studios is looking to make Captain America: Brave New World as epic as possible.
With the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes causing chaos in Hollywood, the decision was made to push Deadpool 3 to next July. As work on the next Captain America movie was believed to be largely finished, the expectation was that it might take back its original slot in May.
Instead, the movie was pushed back to 2025!
Now, we have some new insights into why that happened. According to scooper Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios decided that Brave New World's action scenes were neither big nor satisfying enough compared to the franchise's previous instalments.
There have already been rumblings about reshoots adding new set pieces, so we can believe this. Despite getting a taste of sci-fi with The Cloverfield Paradox, director Julius Onah is a newcomer to the action realm, though the same would have been said of the Russo Brothers when they were tapped to helm The Winter Soldier. Ultimately, it sounds like Brave New World just needs to up the ante.
It's still a little surprising to hear this in some ways, particularly as we're expecting Sam Wilson to square off with members of The Serpent Society and even Red Hulk when President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross transforms into his monstrous alter-ego.
We recently learned that, similar to both Sam and Steve's respective comic book counterparts, the Oval Office will likely have an active role in how Captain America protects his nation. Unfortunately for this Avenger, it won't be too different from how Steve was used as part of the USO during his earliest days wielding the shield.
"To put it simply, he’s been benched," a reliable scooper said of why we haven't seen Sam since The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. "President Ross thinks Sam’s time as 'Captain America' is better suited for publicity, while Sam knows he’s meant to be in the field."
They go on to add, "And that is just the tip of the iceberg to their conflict..."
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Shira Haas, Liv Tyler, and WWE Superstar Seth Rollins. Julius Onah directs from a screenplay by Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, though the filmmaker is believed to have also taken a pass at it.
Captain America: Brave New World arrives in theaters on February 14, 2025.