Summary
Captain America: Brave New Worldserved as a fresh start for the iconic character, with Anthony Mackie in the lead role and the legendary Harrison Ford entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. However, despite the name value that the character provides, the movie ended up being mixed in terms of its success levels.
It hasn’t received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and it isn’t being seen as one of Marvel Studios' best films. But that doesn’t mean thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldhas hit its glass cylinder; in fact, that’s far from the case. Plenty of movies wind up becoming cult classics over time, and that is something that could happen forCaptain America: Brave New World.
Captain America: Brave New World Was Imperfect
There are certain MCU movies that audiences actively disliked and found to be tedious or problematic, but that wasn’t the case withCaptain America: Brave New World.While the film arguably focused too much on politics for a superhero movie, the film had plenty of positives. It grossed $343 million on a budget of $180 million, making it a success to some degree, even though it wasn’t the biggest blockbuster ever in terms of Marvel Studios films. Plenty of people went out to see it, and Mackie’s performance deserved plenty of praise.
He did a great job of developing the character and taking it on to a new level in a bid to make his version feel fresh from what happened in the past. The film also brought in several fresh characters and developed the world that is going to beused for Captain Americamoving forward. However, the political focus was something that bored certain moviegoers and didn’t quite connect with fans in terms of seeing a blockbuster action movie from the MCU. The balance wasn’t quite right with the film, and there was a lack of cohesion with certain aspects of the film, which stopped it from becoming a classic within the franchise.
Marvel’s Marketing For Captain America: Brave New World Was A Problem
One of the bigproblems withCaptain America: Brave New Worldwas how Marvel Studios marketed it. Everything in the adverts and promotion, including the posters, was about Red Hulk. Marvel promoted the character massively to the point where audiences expected the character to be in the vast majority of the movie and be the main villain, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. There was very little Red Hulk to see outside of the main scene, which had been heavily teased during the trailers. That meant that people already knew what was coming from that, and the character they had been excited to see fight Captain America throughout the film wasn’t there.
It made sense forMarvel Studios to heavily promote Red Hulkbecause it’s a character that leaps off the screen is vibrant, powerful, and provides a tense fight scene, unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. Ultimately, it hurt the movie because it meant people had a level of anticipation and expectation that ultimately wasn’t met by how briefly Red Hulk was featured. It proved that even though marketing is crucial for building interest in a movie, giving away one of the biggest twists in the film is something that should never happen.
Fresh Eyes Will Benefit Captain America: Brave New World In Time
Captain America: Brave New Worldis likely going to be something that people enjoy more over time because they will be watching it without the marketing heading into it. Fans who watched it at the time will likely forget the focus that Marvel Studios placed on Red Hulk and will simply sit back and enjoy the film for what it is. Meanwhile, any new MCU fans will check it out and allow the story to unfold in front of them without knowing what to expect. They won’t know the big twist in regards to Red Hulk, and that should make the film even more enjoyable for people because Red Hulk’s arrival will have the genuine impact that it’s supposed to have, and sadly didn’t because it was spoiled in the trailer.
On top of that,Mackie’s version of Captain Americawill likely be a much more important character in the overall MCU and will have been made to feel on a similar level to others. Heading into this movie, some people struggled to see Mackie’s version on the same level as Chris Evans had done beforehand, which stopped many people from even bothering to watch it. Even when audiences headed to the cinema, they constantly judged it against previous Captain America films and what Evans had done. That’s a problem thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldwouldn’t face in a decade because the change in actor wouldn’t be so raw, and once again, that would benefit the quality of the movie to fresh eyes.
