‘Captain America’ Becomes One Of Marvel’s Worst-Reviewed Films Amid Protests From Progressives And Conservatives
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest installment, “Captain America: Brave New World,” opens Friday fresh off the heels of some of the superhero franchise’s worst-ever reviews as well as several controversies, including protests over an Israeli superhero character and anti-“woke” conservative backlash.
Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford star in “Captain America: Brave New World,” which is receiving a … [+]
“Captain America: Brave New World” has just a 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes, one of only three movies in MCU’s catalog—which now spans 35 films—to receive a “rotten” score, a designation given to movies that have a score under 60%.
The newest installment only ranks above “Eternals” (2021) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023), two recent MCU films that failed to impress critics.
The movie’s poor reviews come on the heels of Disney CEO Bob Iger stating on an earnings call last year that Disney, particularly the MCU, would “reduce output and focus more on quality” after several films, including “The Marvels,” failed to make a dent at the box office and received middling reviews.
Marvel previously released about three to four films per year, but only one MCU installment hit theaters in 2024: “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which fared much better with a 78% critics score and more than $1.3 billion in box office gross.
In “Captain America: Brave New World,” actor Anthony Mackie makes his film debut as the titular superhero, taking over the role from Chris Evans, who starred in multiple MCU films.
Many critics considered the film one of Marvel’s worst outputs. Rotten Tomatoes top critic A. A. Dowd wrote for Digital Trends the film is a new “rock bottom” for the franchise with a “mess” of a plot, stating “no blockbuster that cost this much money should look this shoddy.” Vulture critic Bilge Ebiri slammed Marvel as becoming a “giant slop machine,” accusing the franchise of spinning “out of control into the confused and shallow mess that we have before us.” In a 1.5-star review, Washington Post critic Ty Burr called the film “humorless” and a “pixel-pounding mishmash” that is “more interested in fan service and protecting corporate IP” than in telling a coherent story. The Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Scheck blamed the film’s writers for letting Mackie and his co-stars down with poor material.
The film stirred some controversy by including what seemed to be an Israeli superhero when it was announced in September 2022 Israeli actress Shira Haas would play Ruth Bat-Seraph, also known by her alter-ego Sabra, a character who appears in the Marvel comics. The character is a member of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, in the Marvel comics, but Marvel clarified in 2022 that the character would be reimagined for the film. After the trailer was released last summer, an updated description for the film described Haas’ character as a U.S. government official, not a member of the Mossad, and The Hollywood Reporter reported the film would not use her alter-ego name Sabra, which some critics pointed out is the same name as a refugee camp in Lebanon where Palestinians were massacred in 1982. But the decision to change Bat-Seraph’s backstory angered Israeli critics, and the Israeli news outlet Haaretz published a story claiming she was “stripped” of her “Israeliness.” Pro-Palestinian activists, meanwhile, have protested the character’s inclusion. Organizations supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement called for boycotts of the film, while dozens of protesters gathered at the film’s Hollywood premiere Tuesday.
“Captain America” has been caught in the crosshairs of the anti-“woke” and anti-diversity, equity and inclusion culture wars over the past several weeks, particularly since Mackie made controversial comments about his character at a question-and-answer session. “For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations,” Mackie said, stating he believes the character is a “man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity.” The comments received immediate blowback from conservatives online, who considered his statement anti-American, and some slammed Mackie as “woke” or a “DEI” Captain America. Mackie clarified his comments on Instagram, stating he is a “proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like [Captain America]
is the honor of a lifetime,” adding he has “utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country.” Director Julius Onah defended Mackie in an interview with Vanity Fair, stating “things at times get misinterpreted.” Disney has long been a target by anti-“woke” activists, who have slammed several of its films, including “The Marvels” and “The Little Mermaid,” for centering LGBTQ themes, women and people of color.
The film’s box office outlook is promising, according to projections from multiple outlets, including Variety and Deadline, both of whom predict the film will gross about $80 million over the weekend and $90 million to $95 million over the extended President’s Day weekend. That would mark the biggest opening weekend of the year by far, and the biggest since “Moana 2” debuted over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Some of the most recent notorious superhero flops—“Kraven the Hunter” and “Madame Web,” which earned scores of 16% and 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively—were also box office bombs, but they’re not considered part of Disney’s MCU. These movies were produced and distributed by Sony as part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, based on characters from Marvel’s Spider-Man comics, though Spider-Man himself is not a main character in these films. The Sony Spider-Man Universe, which also includes “Morbius” and the “Venom” series, consistently struggled with critics while most of the series flopped at the box office, and The Wrap reported in December the franchise appears to be on hold.
Whether Marvel’s focus on “quality” over “quantity” will pay off later in the year. Two more MCU films are planned to release in 2025: “Thunderbolts*,” which hits theaters in May, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which opens in July and is intended to reboot the “Fantastic Four” franchise.
How Marvel managed to upset Palestinian — and Israeli — fans (Vox)
Anthony Mackie Clarifies He Is a ‘Proud American’ After Viral Captain America Comment: ‘I Have the Utmost Respect for Those Who Serve and Have Served Our Country’ (Variety)
Conor Murray is a reporter covering trends in entertainment and culture. He is based in Jersey City and joined Forbes in 2022…. Read More
Conor Murray is a reporter covering trends in entertainment and culture. He is based in Jersey City and joined Forbes in 2022.
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‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Muscling $12M Thursday Night – Box Office
By Anthony D’Alessandro
EXCLUSIVE: Neither Los Angeles rain nor Northeast snow are keeping audiences away from cinemas tonight as Disney/Marvel Studios‘ Captain America: Brave New World, a continuation of both Disney+ series Falcon and the Winter Soldier and 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, is eyeing a $12M Thursday after previews which began at 2PM earlier today.
Where does that stack up to other MCU titles? Well, it’s higher than 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier which collected $10.2M in previews on its way to a $95M opening.
It’s also under the $17.5M previews of the last MCU title over Presidents Day weekend, 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which made its way to a $106.1M 3-day and $120.3M 4-day. Brave New World isn’t expected to traverse to Quantumania levels with tracking pegging a $80M 3-day and $94M 4-day. Brave New World was always a grounded action film, nothing in the multiverse sense of the word, selling itself entire on Red Hulk (how appropriate for Valentine’s Day).
Bad news: Rotten Tomatoes critics got antsy while watching the Anthony Mackie movie giving it a 52% critics score. Good news: Audiences tonight are giving it a tolerable 82%.
Social media analytics corp RelishMix reports that the social media universe for the Julius Onah directed movie stands at just under 600M, which is an average figure for superhero movies; Brave New World running 21% below genre norms across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram combined. Ya wanna know what the social media reach was for Deadpool & Wolverine before opening? Try 1.15 billion followers. Even Thor: Love & Thunder was at a high 963M-plus before that pic projected onto the screen to a massive $144.1M three-day opening in July 2022.
Mostly all of the cast on this Captain America are social and activated, except for non-social Harrison Ford. Mackie counted 5.4M fans across all platforms before opening, Liv Tyler stood at 7.2M while Giancarlos Esposito has at 4M.
As far as the chatter online, RelishMix says it’s mixed on Brave New World. There are some fans who are excited to see Mackie picking up the shield from Chris Evans, and who are destined to go because of Red Hulk. But “negative-leaning chatter on Captain America: Brave New World hears trembles from fans who feel Marvel has lost its way. Comments include, ‘I remember a time when I used to get hyped for a Marvel film. I saw this poster (and trailer) and felt nothing.’ and ‘I want the film to do well, but I can’t shake the feeling that this movie is just being sent out there to die. Prove me wrong, Disney.’ The jumps in tone are turning some off, sharing, ‘Its nuts how this movie is simultaneously playing up the ‘grizzled espionage’ angle from Winter Soldier, but is also like CLAP FOR RED HULK,’ while others are pessimistically curious in the character of Sabra, given the character’s ties to Israel in the comics with the current geopolitical landscape in the Middle East.”
We’ll have more for you in the AM.
Disney didn’t respond to Deadline’s comment on the projections we were hearing tonight.
On Friday, Brave New World opens in 4,100 theatres, including 400 IMAX auditoriums, 950 Premium Large Format screens, 2,500+ 3D locations, 325 D-Box/4D motion screens, and 100 ScreenX locations.
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‘Captain America’ is a brave new world of Marvel cinematic gobbledygook
Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford star in an underwhelming addition to the MCU canon.
“Captain America: Brave New World” is, by official count, the 35th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that began in 2008 with “Iron Man.” It’s also the fifth in the series of interconnected storylines known as MCU’s Phase 5, which itself is the middle installment of the three-phase, 17-film “Multiverse Saga,” which also includes 20 dedicated TV series that have aired or will air on the Disney Plus streaming platform, of which the most relevant to the new film is 2021’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
