Summary
IsCaptain America: Brave New Worldthe MCU’s most divisive film yet? Well, it seems like it so far, at least according to Rotten Tomatoes. Now showing in theaters worldwide, the Anthony Mackie starrer has received contrasting scores on the review aggregator’s two rating parameters and joins a controversial list, as a result.
It’s become increasingly common for Marvel films to divide fans and critics.Captain America: Brave New Worldhas become another example of this, as the movie has split its audiences.Rotten Tomatoes scoresgenerally hold great value among movie fans. The platform uses two different metrics: the critics' score, known as the Tomatometer, and the audience score, known as the Popcornmeter. These scores seem to vary hugely for the latest MCU outing.
Captain America: Brave New WorldSplits Audience
A Huge Gap Between Critics and Fans
As of July 22, 2025,Captain America: Brave New Worldholds a 50%Tomatometer score from 258 reviews. At the same time, it has a Popcornmeter score of80% from over 5,000 verified ratings. With a staggering30% difference between its audience and critics' scores, the Julius Onah directorial becomes the third-most-polarizing MCU movie in terms of Rotten Tomatoes score disparity, tied withEternals. OnlyAnt-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, with a 35% difference, andCaptain Marvel, with a 34% difference, rank higher.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
35%
46%
81%
34%
79%
45%
30%
50%
80%
47%
77%
18%
62%
It also seems to have overtaken mostMarvel TV shows streaming on Disney+as well, except forShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The legal dramedy featuring the green superhero stands out with a whopping 47% gap between its Tomatometer score of 79% and Popcornmeter score of 32%. This recent (mostly post-Endgame) Marvel trend highlights a confusing time for both the franchise and its audience, and it might hold some lessons for the studio to learn.
Captain America 4’sReviews Are Mixed, But Does It Matter?
Less than a week into its theatrical run,Captain America: Brave New Worldhas received mostly mixed reviews from critics. There are plenty of issues with the film: a weak plot, underdeveloped characters, overreliance onThe Incredible Hulk’splot pointsfrom 16 years ago etc. Moreover, it struggles to establish a fresh path for Sam Wilson while also trying to build on the Captain America legacy. Thecritics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoesalso reflects this clearly:
Anthony Mackie capably takes up Cap’s mantle and shield, but Brave New World is too routine and overstuffed with uninteresting Easter eggs to feel like a worthy standalone adventure for this new Avengers leader.
Brave New WorldIs Still Winning At The Box Office
However, these reviews clearly don’t seem to matter when it comes toCaptain America: Brave New World’sbox office performance. As of Jun 23, 2025, the film has exceeded expectations, earning$192.4 million worldwide– $100 million domestically and $92.4 million overseas. The film reportedly needs to earn $425 million to break even against its $180 million production budget.
But, if the latestCaptain Americafilm intends to brave past its mixed critical reception and cross its breakeven point, it needs to achieve something that other poorly-reviewed MCU films haven’t managed to do. Currently, it is the third lowest-rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes, behindAnt-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaandEternals.Quantumania, which also had a significant disparity between its critics' and audience scores, ultimately became a box office disappointment, falling nearly $125 million short of its reported breakeven point.
Is The MCU’s Fandom Hurting Its Future?
Audience Scores Don’t Always Mean A Movie Is Good
As ironic as it may sound, the MCU’s success is its own problem. Even if its projects don’t turn out great, they still manage to make a lot of money. More importantly, the franchise has a devoted fan base that will defend anyMarvel film or TV showtooth and nail, whether on social media or in real life. That loyalty is clearly reflected on Rotten Tomatoes as well, where audience ratings have consistently remained solid, even when a movie underperforms.
Marvel Films Thrived By Appealing To Everyone
Fans who complain about the MCU’s decline while dismissing critics’ reviews for “not understanding the audience” contradict themselves. To understand this, look at some of thehighest-rated MCU filmson Rotten Tomatoes. Bona fide Marvel classics likeAvengers: Endgame,Guardians of the Galaxy, andCaptain America: The Winter Soldierdon’t just have critics scores in the high 90s; they also maintain a balance with audience scores.
Clearly, the MCU’s past success came from its ability to satisfy critics, general moviegoers, and serious comic book fans alike. Plus, there are recent examples that prove this as well. Consider movies likeShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsorSpider-Man: No Way Home, both of which have extremely high Tomatometer and Popcornmeter scores, while also making a huge impact at the box office. PerhapsDeadpool & Wolverineis the only exception, where the disparity between the two scores is notably high, and yet, the film is regarded as one of the MCU’s better outings in recent memory.
Do Rotten Tomatoes Scores Really Reflect Quality?
Marvel Fan Votes Can Skew A Movie’s Perception
A good Rotten Tomatoes score doesn’t necessarily mean a movie is good. For example, within the MCU itself,Black Widowhas a 79% critics' score and a 91% audience score, whileBlack Pantherhas a 96% critics' score but only a 79% audience score. These gaps might be hard to understand, but overall, the scores are generally good indicators of whether a film works as a crowd-pleaser or if it resonates more with critics than the general audience.
78%
84%
89%
83%
75%
88%
Phase 5* (ongoing)
63%
This becomes even clearer when averaging the Rotten Tomatoes ratings acrossdifferent phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Moreover, one could argue that audience scores are simply made up of reviews from people who cared enough to visit the website and vote. In other words, these scores primarily come from fans – something Marvel is always brimming with. So, unless a movie is massively review-bombed, the audience score mainly reflects fan reactions rather than the actual quality of the film.
Marvel Must Learn FromCaptain America: Brave New World
Right now, it’s arguably too early to judgeCaptain America: Brave New World’slong-term impact on the MCU. Even before its mixed reviews, the film was plagued by numerous production issues, leading to multiple rewrites and reshoots. However, major projects likeThunderbolts*andThe Fantastic Fourare laying the groundwork for the main events ofAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Wars. Therefore, Marvel needs to carefully analyze how differently their films are received by general audiences, hardcore fans, and critics to ensure they deliver.
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titledNew World Order)marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers' successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.
