
“Captain America: Brave New World” was supposed to be released in theaters last May. The Hollywood strikes delayed the Marvel Cinematic Universe action film, starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford, to this Valentine’s Day, February 14th. (Unfortunately, McDonald’s couldn’t change the production timeline on its tie-in toys, which were still in Happy Meals in May. Ford’s Red Hulk was prematurely revealed.)
Disney is coming-off a pretty successful 2024, even with only a handful of theatrical releases. “Inside Out 2”, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Moana 2” are the only three 2024 films to earn more than $1 Billion at the global box office. “Mufasa: The Lion King” has made over half a billion worldwide. 20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” also did very well. And “Young Woman and the Sea” (which thankfully got a theatrical run) was my No. 2 movie of the year.
The Mouse House has a major 2025 ahead, with “Lilo & Stitch” and “Freakier Friday” shifting from Disney+ to cinemas, plus Pixar’s “Elio”, Disney Animation’s “Zootopia 2”, “TRON: Ares”, the live-action reimagining of “Snow White” and some new installments in the MCU. They include “Thunderbolts*” on May 2nd, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” on July 25th, and to kick it off, “Brave New World”.
The latest “Captain America” film has a marketing campaign that highlights it as an intense, sophisticated, political action thriller. One of my favorite MCU films is, without question, 2014’s “The Winter Soldier”. Gripping, exciting, fun, dramatic… and long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe got entangled so deep in a storytelling web that it’s having a difficult time escaping from.
I loved Julius Onah’s 2019 ensemble drama “Luce”, featuring a breakthrough performance from Kelvin Harrison, Jr. and excellent work from Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth and Naomi Watts. I have confidence Onah will deliver a strong new Marvel film.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” was the only MCU movie that opened in 2024. With the exception of 2020, when now MCU films were released, 2024 was the first year with just one MCU movie since 2012, with “Marvel’s The Avengers”. Every other year since (minus 2020) had at least two… or three… or in the case of 2021 (to make up for lost movie theater time) four.
So many people I’ve talked to and/or comments and videos I’ve read online say the same thing: “The MCU hasn’t been good since Endgame.” But some of these arguments force-in the MCU Disney+ TV shows (such as “She-Hulk”, “WandaVision” and “Hawkeye”) and Marvel movies that aren’t in the MCU, like “Madame Web” and “Kraven the Hunter”.
But the majority of MCU movies haven’t been great since “Endgame”, from “Eternals” to “The Marvels”, “Shang-Chi” to “Black Widow”, and new chapters in the Thor, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and Black Panther franchises. (Though “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was a solid series conclusion. And of course, if the MCU stopped at “Endgame”, we might never have gotten “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.)
But thanks to “Deadpool & Wolverine”, and with “Captain America: Brave New World”, “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, the MCU looks to get back on most people’s good side… ahead of how the public will receive former Iron Man turned Doctor Doom Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the saga. And will we *ever* get “Blade”?