‘Captain America: Brave New World’ review: Muddled and bland

When Bruce Banner—The Hulk—is looking for a cure for his unusual rage transformation, he seeks help from maverick scientist Samuel Sterns. Their collaboration faces resistance from General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who is hell-bent on stopping Banner because the giant, angry, green Hulk is dating the general’s daughter, Betty. Ross also wants to harness the gamma tech to his own advantage to create an adequate foil for The Hulk. The resultant creation, dubbed the Abomination, clashes with The Hulk, leading to the destruction of Harlem and a permanent scar on Ross’ reputation.

This summary of the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, which starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, and William Hurt as General Ross, is crucial to understanding Captain America: Brave New World.

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The film, directed by Julius Onah, opens 17 years later. Ross, played by Harrison Ford, is now the President of the United States (Ford replaced Hurt, who passed away in 2022). He’s focused on a global treaty for sharing adamantium, a natural resource and powerful metal, as strong as Wakanda’s vibranium. The Japanese want it, as do the Indians. Ross has a sceptical, but mostly pliant, ally in Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Captain America (Anthony Mackie), Steve Rogers’ heir apparent.

Sam Wilson, formerly known as The Falcon, picks up the red and white shield to take on the mantle of Captain America, vacated by the formidable Steve Rogers. Wilson carries the weight of this legacy. The film presents a world where Wilson must come to terms with both the mantle and the global challenges that accompany it. Wilson has passed on his Falcon wings to Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez).

When Ross’ plans run into trouble, sabotaged by a secret enemy, Captain America and The Falcon join Ross’ security in charge, former Black Widow, Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), to solve the case.

The writing team of Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Peter Glanz, and Onah has the onerous task of connecting the dots with the 2008 film. Onah also has to build up Wilson as Captain America, a role previously played by the well-suited Chris Evans. The confusing swapping of identities— including Ford for Hurt as Ross— combined with plot points from The Incredible Hulk, is Captain America: Brave New World’s biggest challenge.

The Marvel universe, with the disbanding of the Avengers and the elimination of characters such as Rogers and Iron Man, has been gasping for strong plots for some time. Some of their recent releases, like Thor: Love and Thunder and The Marvels, teetered and collapsed due to weak plots and unimaginative treatments.

Captain America: Brave New World has little to offer in terms of novelty. The political messaging is a bit muddled. The suspense over the villain falls flat in the big reveal. There is no gasp-inducing action sequence, in fact the scene of the destruction of The White House is particularly uninteresting. 
As is expected from MCU films, seeds are planted for future developments, with characters like Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) and the reappearance of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson).

The film works best as a platform for Mackie (who also serves as executive producer) to step out of the large shadows cast by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth, among others. While the performances by Ford, Mackie, and Ramirez are solid, the film as a whole struggles with moments of blandness and does not successfully create a distinct enough personality for the new Captain America.

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