The MCU has had three movies this year, beginning with Captain America 4, or Brave New World, in February. That was a critical, commercial, and fan failure, with it receiving bad scores and failing to really make an impact at the box office. Subsequent films did better in different aspects.
Thunderbolts* was a huge critical success, although the box office didn’t heal from Brave New World and in spite of the word of mouth. The Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn’t quite have the same critical appeal, but it’s been widely praised and has so far done well at the box office despite Superman‘s reign. Kevin Feige, the head honcho of the MCU, attempted to explain why Captain America 4 failed, and he totally missed the mark.
Kevin Feige provides tone-deaf excuse for Captain America 4
Captain America 4 was destined for failure from the beginning. Marvel brought in the director of the disastrous Cloverfield Paradox and a writer team who had very little experience to try and make Sam Wilson’s first movie. It underwent reshoots and rewrites and was slotted for a February release, a death knell for any movie.
Blockbusters don’t come out in February. Any movie that studios believe will be watched and enjoyed is not put out in February unless it has something to do with Valentine’s Day. January and February are no man’s land as far as movie releases, so Marvel probably knew they didn’t have a hit on their hands.
So why does Kevin Feige believe the movie flopped? It’s not because of any of that, nor is it because of the random Israeli propaganda slid in. It’s not because the writing team either didn’t watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier or they assumed the audience didn’t. It’s not even because it’s a thinly veiled Incredible Hulk sequel with a bad Captain America gloss.
No, Feige believes the movie failed financially because it starred Sam Wilson as Captain America and not Steve Rogers. According to Collider, Feige said at a roundtable, “It was the first without Chris Evans.” Some audience members might’ve felt this way, but there were so many other issues that hampered the film. In fact, Anthony Mackie is arguably the lone standout in Captain America: Brave New World.
Marvel appears to be learning its lesson, as they’re scaling back production in the next few years and they seem to have recentered their movies on good characters and nice storytelling, two things Captain America 4 was kind of lacking. However, with all the work that had gone into the movie, it had to come out eventually, and it was slotted before the two movies that seem to prove that the MCU has at least temporarily gotten back on track.
Either way, it is totally unfair, even well after the movie was released, to blame Mackie or the lack of Evans on the movie’s failure. It’s a bad movie, and not even Chris Evans could’ve saved it. Sure, the biggest difference in the fourth movie versus the first three is Wilson’s Captain America instead of Rogers’, but that’s a surface-level take that lacks all critical thinking.
The first three generally had better writing and direction, and they weren’t reshot and edited into oblivion, torn up and put back together again piece by piece. They also weren’t attempting to be a sequel to a movie the MCU technically doesn’t have the rights to make a sequel to at all. A lot was unfairly placed on Captain America: Brave New World without much to help, and it understandably crumbled. It just wasn’t Mackie’s fault, and to think so is asinine.
End Credits
The MCU appeared to be stuck with Captain America: Brave New World. After completing the movie and then redoing a lot of it, it couldn’t just be shelved. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone. But it was clearly done before the MCU had its moment of reckoning and its decision to revamp how it operates in the future. Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are a product of that, and to blame other things that don’t make sense on Brave New World’s failure is silly.
