After seventeen years of installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), audiences are tired of the blatant corporate commodification of the genre. This “superhero fatigue” has continued to drive the deterioration of Marvel films since Avengers: Endgame, and Marvel’s newest film has the worst audience exit-poll in the franchise’s history, according to Cinemascore. 

Following several poorly received test screenings, Captain America: Brave New World has hit theaters, and during its second week of release, box office sales fell by 68%. Anthony Mackie’s continuation as the “Star Spangled Man” derives its plot from two of the most critically hated films in the MCU: Eternals and The Incredible Hulk.  

Akin to one of the best films in the franchise, The Winter Soldier, Captain America must now face political espionage; however, this film lacks the integrity to assert any interesting claims about nationalism or security like its predecessor did. 

Director Julius Onah was likely forced by Disney to repackage political messaging for a conventional, moderate audience. Despite the related Disney+ series slightly addressing race relations and veteran PTSD, Brave New World is too scared to take even a mild risk. Audiences are directed to view international affairs through a superficial lens that has no nuance, no stakes, and no heart. The Falcon mini-series faced a related paradoxical trope, opting to turn antagonists with accessible motivations into violent extremists when the writing became difficult.  

The antagonists are muddied, and the protagonists are given no opportunity for character development. Brave New World’s pacing creates a challenge in which every scene is narrowed on the plot, and not a single scene offers a moment of engaging or meaningful growth. Although Harrison Ford gives an engaging performance, one of our generation’s best actors, Giancarlo Esposito, is a shallow and poorly written antagonist. Disney had an opportunity and failed. 

The film’s action is poorly choreographed, and it becomes simultaneously overstimulating and unentertaining. Perhaps, the film should have been titled Captain America: Brave the Flashing Lights in Every Action Sequence. There does not seem to be any stakes for Sam Wilson, and the film lacks any emotional highs or lows. 

When examining other films without heart, the concept of “Oscar-bait” arises. These films, made to critically appeal to academia rather than corporate America, say just as little about society as Marvel movies do. Yet, regardless of how much you dislike or love Emelia Perez, at least it has led to conversations and criticisms regarding its portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community.  Brave New World has only inspired conversation about the death of the superhero genre. It is, truly, two hours of nothingness. 

This review says more about Brave New World than the film says itself, and the continued disappointment of the Marvel franchise will inevitably kick the superhero genre from pop culture dialogue. Marvel Studios has continuously failed to live up to expectations since 2019, and audiences have given up. It is unlikely Disney’s MCU will ever produce another film of value.

Thunderbolts hits theaters this May. 

Photo courtesy of IMDb