Captain America: Brave New Worldwas supposed to launch the MCU’s next phase of grounded, politically charged storytelling — instead, it became one of the studio’s biggest misfires. Despite a great cast that includedAnthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, and Giancarlo Esposito, the film stumbled to a 46% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and earned just $415 million at the global box office. Now, Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigeis offering a blunt assessment of what went wrong:the movie didn’t haveChris Evans.
“It was the first without Chris Evans,” Feige said at a roundtable event attended by Collider’sSteve Weintraub, addressing the backlash and underperformance head-on. While fans were eager to see Sam Wilson take up the shield, the film’s troubled production and heavy reshoots may have undermined the story’s emotional payoff.
Originally slatedto featureTim Blake Nelson’sLeader a lot more heavily, and center a climactic final battle involving Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and Sabra (Shira Haas), the movie went through major last-minute changes. Entire scenes were cut. Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder replaced the Serpent Society as the main threat. Even the film’s finale was restructured, reportedly removing key characters from the action. The end result? A movie that felt cobbled together instead of confident, with a CGI mess of a final fight between Sam Wilson and the Red Hulk.
Why Have Marvel Films Been Failing?
Feige’s comments reflect thatconcern inside Marvel Studiosthat recent audience fatigue is partly due to disjointed storytelling and reliance on familiarity. InBrave New World, that nostalgia may have worked against it. Fans loved Steve Rogers — but when he handed off the shield to Sam inAvengers: Endgame, that was six years and a Disney+ series ago. The delay may have cost Marvel its momentum.
Feige has also acknowledged that audiences are growing weary of needing to follow every series and spin-off to keep up. ReferencingThunderbolts— which also underperformed despite positive reviews — he said: “Thunderboltswas a very good movie, but nobody knew that title, and many of those characters were from shows. There was that residual effect of [audiences going], ‘I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is?’”
That strategy is now changing. Marvel will reportedly scale back to just one TV series per year, designed to stand more independently from theatrical releases. The goal is to stop making the MCU feel like homework.
Chris Evansmightreturn inAvengers: Doomsday, out in December 2026.
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson as he steps into his role as the new Captain America. Navigating the complexities of geopolitics, Sam encounters an international incident involving a mysterious global plot. As tensions rise, he must uncover the mastermind behind the scheme to prevent worldwide chaos.
