Brave New World’ Sees Major Divide Between Critics & Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes

. The Marvel outing, which finds Anthony Mackie returning as Sam Wilson, now holding the mantle and shield of Captain America, has been divisive among critics, landing a “rotten” score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. But, it seems, audiences feel very differently about the comic book movie.

Captain America: Brave New World now stands at a much more promising 80% from audiences on the Popcornmeter, with fans of the MCU taking to the review aggregator site to share their overwhelmingly positive reactions to Cap’s comeback. Rotten Tomatoes user William M awarded the MCU outing a perfect score of 5/5 stars, saying, “Great movie. Anthony Mackie takes command of the mantle of Captain America well, the future is bright for the MCU.” A near-perfect four stars was given by fellow fan DESTROYER P who, while admitting the movie has flaws, could not help but be entertained by the comic book spectacle:

“I recently watched Captain America: Brave New World with my friends, and honestly, we had a great time. While the film isn’t without its flaws, I found it to be a very enjoyable experience as a casual Marvel fan. The story was engaging enough, the action sequences were well-executed, and it managed to strike a good balance between character moments and spectacle.”

Another 4/5 stars comes courtesy of Kevin R, who called Captain America: Brave New World a “fun political action film.” And, again, while there were issues, particularly with exposition and “the big twist” being spoiled in trailers, “at the end of the day it was enjoyable, well acted, and feels like it’s building the necessary foundation to course correct the mess that has been the Multiverse Saga. Bring on Doomsday and Secret Wars!”

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Now Stands at 80% on the Popcornmeter

Even the more middling reactions from audiences, such as from Henry O, heap praise on Anthony Mackie, with their review saying, “The action was great, and Harrison Ford really took a step forward with playing President Ross and Red Hulk. Looking forward to what the MCU has to offer following the end credit.” Lastly, Captain America: Brave New World gets another 5/5 from MMister J, who says:

“I really loved this Captain America Brave New World! Sam Wilson and the new Falcon had great chemistry and the new character they brought we’re fantastic. This movie reminds me a lot of The Winter Soldier genre! Can’t wait for Captain to lead the new Avengers!”

One critic who did love a lot of Captain America: Brave New World was MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman, who again praised Mackie’s first MCU lead performance, saying, “Anthony Mackie soars to the MCU forefront in a relentless action-thriller that has its flaws, but solidly entertains and exceeds expectations with a butt-kicking lead performance. Captain America: Brave New World will have the usual haters eating crow if they watch with an open mind.”

Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America alongside Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. You can check out the official synopsis for the latest MCU movie below.

“Anthony Mackie returns as the high-flying hero Sam Wilson, who’s officially taken up the mantle of Captain America. After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.”

Captain America: Brave New World

3.5
/5

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Director

Julius Onah

Franchise(s)

Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe