Sam Wilson picks up the iconic Captain America shield in the first Marvel movie of 2025: “Captain America: Brave New World.” After appearing in the Disney+ series, “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” the new Captain America makes his highly anticipated big screen debut.
The film follows Sam (Anthony Mackie) as he faces his first international incident in the role of Captain America. Alongside him fights Air Force First Lieutenant Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), who was first introduced in “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.” Toward the end of the series, Sam gave him the Falcon wing pack, effectively passing along his former mantle as he accepts his new hero responsibilities.
The movie gives Sam the chance to truly step back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with his new identity and gives Joaquin the chance to make his first entrance into the MCU.
On the other hand, the reappearance of Thaddeus Ross as president of the United States feels a bit confusing, as most fans will remember him most as the superhero-hating general in “Captain America: Civil War.”
While the plot’s main focus is on the threats that Sam and Joaquin have to face, the “hero” aspect of superheroes is emphasized over the “super.” During an interview with the Technique, Mackie explained the intentionality behind that perspective. “The Captain America mantle has always been in more of a grounded reality. It’s steeped more in a political type of compounded-reality thriller,.” said Mackie., “What we wanted to do with this movie is show that the dignity and the humanity of Captain America is what matters.”
While the film is not as gritty and thought-provoking as movies like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” it earns points for attempting the same tone. Themes of exploitation, imperialism and self-determination are woven into the movie’s plot, but had they been explored further, their impact would have been greater.
The inability to delve further into the underlying themes may have been partially due to the slightly less than two-hour run-time. While some Marvel movies have been criticized for being too long, this one could have benefitted from more time. Some parts of the film, such as certain exposition scenes and scenes toward the second half, felt like they moved a bit too quickly, something that could have also been helped by some extra minutes.
As far as production goes, aAward-winning director of photography Kramer Morgenthau’s cinematography is impressive. Intentional camera angles and movement, dynamic composition and rich color and lighting design help to create depth and build moments of tension.
AIn terms of the movie in general, however, after Marvel’s recent string of fantastical superhero flicks, including “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania” and “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness,” “Captain America: Brave New World” feels like a refreshing step back into something that more closely resembles a reality nearer to our own. Julius Onah (“The Cloverfield Paradox”), a newbie in the Marvel scene, directed the film.
Fans who have been begging for less CGI-laden movies will also be satisfied by “Captain America: Brave New World,” at least to some degree. While there are moments where the effects fall noticeably short, it feels like the studio at least attempted to hold back on the excessive use of poorly done CGI that has been plaguing recent Marvel films.
Instead of fight scenes filled with characters holding out a hand and allowing computer-generated repulsor blasts and wispy magic to take out the bad guys, there are multiple beautifully choreographed segments of hand-to-hand combat, with many adversaries carrying regular, real-world guns, with no alien, AI or otherworldly technological advantages.
Speaking of the lack of enhanced advantages, the movie’s plot explores the pressure that Sam faces in filling Steve Rogers’ super-sized shoes as a non-enhanced individual. While some may argue that Steve’s super-serum-derived enhancements are central to the character of Captain America, Mackie would argue otherwise.
“When we first met Sam, he was a counselor,” the actor says, “He was a veteran; he was a humanitarian. And I think those characteristics only come with a certain type of humbleness and humanity, and that’s what this Captain America — that’s what Sam Wilson — represents… he’s every man’s Captain America. He’s the Captain America we can look at and say, ‘That can be me.’”
Sam Wilson is no Steve Rogers, but perhaps that is the whole point. He gives people, both in-universe and in-audience, a role model who exudes qualities that are not just admirable but achievable.
The movie combines the thriller genre with the action of a superhero movie in order to open new doors for a well-loved character, which is something that had an impact on even Mackie himself.
“That’s something that was really important to me, to capture what it is today, to not only be a Black man but to be a human being in a place and a time where humanity and compassion is so needed,” he said.
While “Captain America: Brave New World” might not be the perfect return to the golden age of Marvel movies that some fans were hoping for, it is still clearly a move in the right direction for the studio.
Despite recent Marvel movies shoving flashy CGI powers into action sequences to fill their overdone multiverse plots, this particular one does not. Instead, “Captain America: Brave New World” brings its heroes back into Earth’s atmosphere and attempts to emphasize plot and characterization, earning the release a spot on the list of better recent Marvel movies.