Captain America: Brave New World has proven itself to be quite the divisive Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, with critics being harsher on it than audiences, and there are a few reasons that could explain it. The first MCU movie of 2025 was not a major success in the vein of Chris Evans’ Captain America movies, though it has done fairly well at the box office so far. When it comes to reviews, Anthony Mackie’s Brave New World has sadly fallen on the negative spectrum.
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Elements like Captain America: Brave New World‘s larger MCU connections, its villain, story, and more have been the source of criticism. However, the movie takes an interesting turn when it comes to what the audience thinks. On the popular review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s Tomatometer — its critics’ score — stands at 49%, while the audience score is much higher, at 80% at the time of writing. A few factors explain that difference.
You are watching: 10 Reasons Captain America: Brave New World Critics And Audience Reviews Are So Split
10
Critics Thought Sam Wilson Was Bland
“The stiff expository dialogue certainly doesn’t help, but apart from a few asides about prior Falcon and Winter Soldier characters, this particular version of Sam Wilson is incredibly bland. – Aidan Kelley, Collider.
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Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson has shown in his MCU appearances before Captain America: Brave New World that he is one of the franchise’s funniest characters. That is one of Sam’s best qualities, as he is someone who can balance seriousness and comedy quite well. While there are moments of levity with Sam in his first movie as Captain America, the overall tone of the film is quite dark.
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Critics thought Sam Wilson was not as fun as he used to be in the MCU. When it comes to the political side of Captain America, one of the main criticisms was that the character felt relatively preachy instead of delving deeper into real-world issues. That led to complaints that Sam Wilson was bland in the film, and Captain America could have been made more complex and not one-note.
9
Audiences Enjoyed Anthony Mackie’s Captain America
“Anthony Mackie excels as the new Captain America.” – MillzyVonDoom
Image via Marvel Studios
While critics might have found some issues with how Sam Wilson was represented in Captain America: Brave New World, audiences mostly enjoyed Mackie’s turn as the Sentinel of Liberty. All the audience reactions on the list can be found on Rotten Tomatoes‘ Verified Audience Ratings. One of the movie’s biggest jobs was making sure that audiences left theaters feeling like Sam Wilson deserved to be Captain America as much as Steve Rogers.
Based on the audience reviews, it seems like that goal was successful. There is a lot of praise for Sam, with fans enjoying how he is his own man. Instead of getting the Super-Soldier serum like Steve and Bucky, Sam Wilson’s superpower is his humanity. Many moments throughout the film reinforce that, like Bucky’s surprise cameo and pep talk, as well as how Sam gets Red Hulk to stop. Sam Wilson can get things done with action and his words, as Captain America should.
8
Critics Disliked The Many Larger MCU Connections And Setups
“The possibility for clear and uncomplicated storytelling has been neutralised by the kind of relentless exposition that 34 previous movies and 11 MCU TV shows now, unfortunately, require.” – Kevin Maher, The Times (UK).
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Keeping up with a franchise as big as the MCU is a complex job. With movies, TV shows, animation, and Special Presentations, there are dozens of MCU projects that can somehow play a role in every new release of the franchise. Captain America: Brave New World would not exist without those larger connections to past MCU projects. That is a huge source of criticism surrounding the movie.
The movie also very clearly sets up many threads for the franchise to follow in future releases.
Critics think Captain America: Brave New World should be able to stand on its own two feet without the viewer needing to watch multiple MCU projects to fully understand and/or enjoy the film. The movie also very clearly sets up many threads for the franchise to follow in future releases. That was another criticized aspect, as some felt that the story should have been made more engrossing instead of focusing on setting up future events.
7
Audiences Enjoyed What Brave New World Sets Up
“The MCU is setting up some good ideas moving forward.” – Google user
While critics might not have enjoyed the Captain America movie’s many connections to past and future MCU projects, the reaction from fans was the opposite. Sure, some audience members appear to also have had issues with the MCU of it all. However, the franchise’s interconnectedness is exactly what led to the MCU becoming so popular in the first place. In that regard, Captain America: Brave New World follows the Marvel formula to the letter.
After some more experimental projects in recent years, such as Marvel Studios’ Eternals, the new Captain America movie was seen as a return to the franchise’s classic roots by the audience. The X-Men, the new Avengers, Bucky Barnes’ future as a congressman, and more are set up by the film, which has time for cameos that add to the plot. Like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Brave New World could become more appreciated when its setups are paid off.
6
Critics Thought Some Characters And Storylines Were Unnecessary
“Entire conversations and characters… exist for the sole purpose of dumping exposition onto viewers.” – Jeremy Mathai, SlashFilm.
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While interconnectedness is one thing the MCU has come to be known for, and so opinions will vary based on personal preference, having too many things happening at once can really be detrimental to a project. That happens to be a main point of criticism found in the Captain America: Brave New World reviews. The critics comment on how Marvel should have gone for a leaner movie.
Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder was added during the movie’s well-known reshoots.
The Serpent Society and Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, the former Black Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph, and other characters are among those who felt superfluous to the story. As if they were just there to add recognizable faces to action sequences or provide exposition, spelling out certain changes in location and plot advancements. Captain America: Brave New World‘s villain, the Leader, was deemed underwhelming. With fewer characters, he could have had a bigger role and appeared more in the film.
5
Audiences Enjoyed The Character Development
“Great story. Wonderful character growth.” – Roderick
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Critics felt there were too many characters and subplots, which took away from Sam Wilson and the political discussion that the movie appeared to want to explore but never really did. However, the audience reviews were mostly positive about Sam’s story as Captain America, the political thriller tone, and the film’s slower pace. Character growth was one of the most praised aspects of the movie by the audience.
It is easy to see why, as Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross is a clear example. Captain America: Brave New World peeled back Ross’ layers to explore how his life did not turn out the way he wanted it to, and the character was now desperate to make amends and be better, both for himself and his daughter. Sam Wilson also understood he was worthy of being Captain America, as did Joaquin Torres with his future as Falcon.
4
Critics Claimed It Is Devoid Of Captain America Movies’ Enthusiasm
“The overt seriousness and bleakness saps the movie of any enjoyment we might get from watching a new Captain America movie.” – Molly Freeman, ScreenRant.
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Captain America: Brave New World was always going to be compared to Chris Evans’ films as Steve Rogers. Sadly, the common opinion among critics is that the new Captain America movie is the worst in the hero’s MCU franchise. One of the main complaints is that it is just not as entertaining and exciting as Evans’ Captain America trilogy. The 2025 MCU movie’s highs are just not high enough.
MCU Captain America Movies |
Release Year |
---|---|
Captain America: The First Avenger |
2011 |
Captain America: The Winter Soldier |
2014 |
Captain America: Civil War |
2016 |
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2025 |
Adding to that, the lows are notably lower than what can be found in any of the other Captain America movies. The film’s darker tone was a clear nod to Evans’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is one of the MCU’s best entries to this day. That film is the MCU’s best grounded entry, while also allowing a lot of space for typical superhero fun, action set pieces, and funny moments. Brave New World falls short of that.
3
Audiences Believed It Is True To The Captain America Franchise
“It was a good Captain America movie” – Kaeden
Different from critics, the audience reviews were kinder to the film’s placement within the Captain America franchise. In many of the reviews that compare Brave New World to Chris Evans’ Captain America movies, the new MCU entry finds itself ranked higher than Steve Rogers’ debut in the franchise, The First Avenger. However, audiences agree that Evans’ other two Captain America movies have the upper hand when compared to Anthony Mackie’s first film as Cap.
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Fans did not have as much of a problem with the political angle as critics did. The slower, more investigative tone of the film seems to have been positively accepted by audiences. The high-octane aerial action that separates Sam Wilson from Steve Rogers was another major positive. Audience reviews claim Brave New World features just as much fun, fights, and general excitement as the previous Captain America movies.
2
Critics Were Not A Fan Of The Incredible Hulk Connections
“And yes, this film is as much a sequel to 2018’s [sic] The Incredible Hulk as it is to the Captain America movies; viewers are advised at least to read the Wikipedia page for this mostly-forgotten franchise entry. – Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict.
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If most critics did not appreciate the nods to past MCU events, then it was a given that how much of Captain America: Brave New World‘s story depends on a previous MCU film would not be received well. The new film has many connections to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. That was expected since Marvel announced that Thunderbolt Ross and The Leader would play such a huge role in the project.
The main criticism surrounding its ties to the Hulk’s only MCU movie is related to how that entry in the franchise has mostly been forgotten by the MCU. Why bring it back so many years later, and in a Captain America movie of all things? That question is repeated throughout several Captain America: Brave New World reviews. While Marvel attempted to explain the Hulk connections with news reports, files found by Sam, and more in the MCU film, critics were still against the move.
1
Audiences Had No Problem With The Hulk Ties
“I didn’t hear anyone complain about a Thor movie being part Hulk movie, so why now?” – Lex P
Different from critics, audience reviews were mostly okay with The Incredible Hulk‘s connection to the new Captain America movie. Remembered a few times was one of the MCU’s best films, Thor: Ragnarok. While the project firmly focused on Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk tagged along for the cosmic adventure. Bruce Banner played a key role in the film and had a lot of character development.
Despite that, Thor still thrived at the center of the film, and so does Sam Wilson in Captain America: Brave New World, according to the audience reviews. Many of them also claim that the film explained the key details necessary to understand or remember The Leader and Thunderbolt Ross’ MCU history. One of the central aspects of the film, these different opinions help exemplify why Captain America: Brave New World has critics and the audience so divided.
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Captain America: Brave New World
Fantasy
Adventure
Action
4/10
169
7.2/10
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Release Date
February 14, 2025
Director
Julius Onah
Writers
Dalan Musson, Malcolm Spellman
Prequel(s)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War
Franchise(s)
Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cast
See All
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Anthony Mackie
Sam Wilson / Captain America
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Harrison Ford
Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross / Red Hulk
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Category: Entertainment