MARVEL MARATHON DEEP DIVE
CAPTAIN AMERICA
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Captain America: Brave New World reached US cinemas on 14 February 2025 with Julius Onah directing Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson. Harrison Ford joins the MCU as President Ross, and the film runs 118 minutes.
A SAM WILSON STORY
HOW THE FILM REACHED THE SCREEN
Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, writers of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, were revealed to be writing a fourth Captain America film in April 2021. Anthony Mackie signed on in August 2021, and Julius Onah was hired in July 2022. The project was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022 as Captain America: New World Order and later retitled Brave New World after feedback that the earlier phrase had been co-opted in the real world in a way that made people uncomfortable.
Principal photography ran from 21 March to 30 June 2023 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta under the working title Rochelle Rochelle, with a week of location shooting in Washington, D.C. Reshoots took place between May and November 2024. The film’s reported budget was $180 million, and Laura Karpman composed the score.
“I’m a proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like Cap is the honor of a lifetime.”
Anthony Mackie, January 2025
A NEW CAPTAIN AND A RED HULK
WHO IS IN THE CAST
Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, with Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Xosha Roquemore as Leila Taylor, Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns and Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross, who becomes Red Hulk. Sebastian Stan appears uncredited as Bucky Barnes.
A VALENTINE’S DAY OPENING
HOW THE FILM WAS RELEASED AND WHAT IT EARNED
The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on 11 February 2025 and opened in the US on 14 February, after earlier dates of May and July 2024. It opened to $88,842,603 in the US and went on to earn $200,500,001 there and $415,101,577 worldwide. Its second weekend fell 68%, the third-worst for the MCU at that point.
A post-credits scene has an imprisoned Sterns warning Wilson of a coming attack from other worlds.
THE REWATCH
A 46% CRITICS SCORE AND A B- FROM AUDIENCES
Rotten Tomatoes lists a 46% critics’ score from 368 reviews and a 75% audience score, and its consensus says Mackie “capably takes up Cap’s mantle and shield.” Metacritic gives it 42 from 56 critics and a user score of 4.7, and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B-, the lowest MCU grade to that point. Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times called it “a decent political thriller with something culturally resonant to say,” while Bilge Ebiri of Vulture said Marvel had become a “giant slop machine.” The film earned nominations but no wins, and Karpman was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the MCU release order guide between Agatha All Along and Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. It sits between Deadpool & Wolverine and Thunderbolts* in the MCU movies in order guide, and between Kraven the Hunter and Thunderbolts* in the Marvel movies in release order guide. In the MCU timeline guide it comes between Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 and Thunderbolts*.
QUICK ANSWERS
CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD WATCH QUESTIONS
Do I need to watch other MCU projects first?
Yes. It continues the story of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and it carries over Thaddeus Ross and Samuel Sterns from The Incredible Hulk.
How long is Brave New World?
118 minutes.
Is there a post-credits scene?
Yes. In it, Sterns warns Sam Wilson of a coming attack from other worlds.
Which Marvel Marathon guides include Captain America: Brave New World?
It appears in the MCU release order, MCU movies in order, Marvel movies in release order and MCU timeline guides.
EDITORIAL NOTES
SOURCES AND UPDATES
Development, production, release, box-office and reception details are checked against a film reference, box-office data and aggregator scores, cited individually below.