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Captain America: Brave New World Review: Trying Twice as Hard to Be Half as Good

The Verge’s Charles Pulliam-Moore sees Sam and Isaiah Bradley’s relationship and the film’s aerial action as strengths, but argues that Brave New World does not make Sam’s Captain America distinct enough from Steve Rogers.
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Captain America: Brave New World gives Sam Wilson the lead, but Charles Pulliam-Moore’s review for The Verge argues that it does not make his Captain America feel distinct enough from Steve Rogers. The film’s strongest material is Sam’s relationship with Isaiah Bradley, while familiar plotting and hazy political themes weaken the larger story. Its aerial action impresses, but cannot make those ideas land.

What is Brave New World about?

Marvel’s official film description presents Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. He meets newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross and becomes caught up in an international incident. Julius Onah directed the film, which stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. Marvel lists its release date as February 14, 2025. Marvel’s official film page

Pulliam-Moore’s review places the story after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with Sam and Joaquin Torres navigating the U.S. government’s effort to secure access to newly discovered adamantium. That political-thriller setup gives the film room to explore what it means for Sam to serve as Captain America, but the review finds that it does not follow through clearly enough.

Does Sam feel different from Steve Rogers?

For Pulliam-Moore, this is the film’s central missed opportunity. Sam has taken up the shield, but the story does not sufficiently define what changes when he—not Steve Rogers—occupies the role. The question is not simply whether Sam can perform the job; it is whether the film gives his version of Captain America a distinct point of view and leadership style.

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#1 Best Overall
Captain America: Brave New World - Blu-ray + Digital
  • As he takes on the mantle of Captain America, Sam Wilson soon finds himself in the middle of an international incident. In a race against time, Sam must unravel a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red. Warning: Some flashing-lights scenes in this film may affect photosensitive viewers.

The review’s criticism is about the film’s characterization and ideas, not Mackie’s suitability as the lead. It sees Sam’s experiences and relationships as material that could have made his approach unmistakably his own, but argues that the finished story leaves that distinction underdeveloped.

Why are Sam and Isaiah Bradley the film’s strongest relationship?

The scenes between Sam and Isaiah Bradley are the review’s clearest success. Isaiah, played by Carl Lumbly, gives the film a way to address the costs of wrongful imprisonment and public service for a Black superhero connected to the state. In their quieter exchanges, the personal consequences of that history feel more concrete than the film’s broader political messaging.

Pulliam-Moore praises the chemistry between Mackie and Lumbly. Their relationship makes the tension between patriotic duty and the harm inflicted by institutions tangible, even as the film struggles to develop that tension consistently elsewhere.

Rank #2
Captain America: Brave New World - 4K + Blu-ray + Digital
  • As he takes on the mantle of Captain America, Sam Wilson soon finds himself in the middle of an international incident. In a race against time, Sam must unravel a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red. Warning: Some flashing-lights scenes in this film may affect photosensitive viewers.

Are the political themes coherent?

The review finds the film’s treatment of Sam’s experience of racism compelling in places, particularly through Isaiah’s story, but judges its larger political direction muddled. The material raises questions about who is asked to represent the country, what service costs, and how the government treats people it claims to protect. Pulliam-Moore’s objection is that these threads do not resolve into a clear or sustained argument.

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That unevenness matters because Sam’s identity as Captain America could have been the story’s organizing idea. Instead, the review sees the film gesture toward meaningful questions without giving them enough shape to distinguish this chapter from earlier MCU stories.

Does the plot feel too familiar?

Pulliam-Moore compares the film’s political-thriller framework, brainwashing elements, and returning villain to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and other earlier MCU stories. Familiar devices can work when they sharpen a new character’s perspective; in this review, their recurrence makes the story feel derivative rather than newly revealing.

Rank #3
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Captain America: Brave New World / Captain America: Civil War / Captain America: The Winter Soldier / Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Steve Rogers wields the shield in Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. Then it?s Sam Wilson who unleashes his wings and takes up the mantle in Captain America: Brave New World. Join them as they fight evil global forces with this action-packed 4-movie set.

The result is a mismatch between the film’s stated opportunity and its execution: Sam’s role invites a fresh take on the Captain America story, but the plot leans on turns the franchise has already explored. The review’s concise verdict is that “The latest Captain America movie timidly goes where Marvel has been before.”

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How strong are the action scenes?

Action is one of the film’s strengths. Pulliam-Moore credits Onah with staging visually distinct set pieces around Sam’s aerial abilities, giving the character a physical vocabulary that sets him apart on screen. Those sequences bring energy and variety to the film.

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But spectacle does not solve the story’s deeper problems. The review argues that strong staging cannot compensate for recycled plotting or make the political ideas more substantive. The action works best as an expression of what Sam can do, not as a substitute for defining what makes him Captain America.

What does the review say about Ruth/Sabra?

Pulliam-Moore finds Ruth Bat-Seraph’s subplot underdeveloped and out of place. The reviewer speculates that production changes may have affected the character’s role, but that explanation is speculation rather than independently confirmed information. The review’s supported criticism is about how the subplot feels in the finished film.

Who is likely to appreciate the film?

On the review’s terms, viewers most interested in Sam and Isaiah’s relationship or in action built around Sam’s flight may find the film’s strongest moments worthwhile. Viewers looking for a sharply defined new take on Captain America, coherent political themes, or a story that breaks decisively from earlier MCU political thrillers may find its ambitions less satisfying.

That distinction captures the review’s qualified negative judgment: Brave New World functions as a setup for Sam’s place in the MCU, but does not make full use of the opportunity to establish what his Captain America means.

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