Captain America: Brave New World is trying twice as hard to be half as good
With its first few Captain America films, Marvel Studios sold audiences on the idea that its superhero movies could be more than live-action cartoons. By borrowing from other genres, they could become gritty, character-focused thrillers like The Winter Soldier or splashy crossover events like Civil War. And the tonal shifts between each feature made it feel like the first Avenger was evolving in tandem with the larger MCUas ongoing story.
That evolution came to a climax with Avengers: Endgame, which sent Chris Evansa Steve Rogers off into the sunset to stunning box-office effect. The movie also set the stage for Anthony Mackieas Sam Wilson to take up the Captain America mantle like in Marvelas comics. But narratively, it left the MCU in an awkward, Avengers-less state that Marvel has struggled to pull the franchise out of.A
Marvel clearly wants director Julius Onahas Captain America: Brave New World to be a palate cleanser a one that remembers and builds on the events of Marvelas other recent features. The film does a serviceable job of establishing a new status quo, but it struggles to articulate how this Captain America is different from his predecessor. And whi …