Courageous Captain America enters a Brave New World

Marvel Studios is at it again with a new Captain America story and this time there's no Steve Rogers to be seen. Instead, his sidekick Sam Wilson takes up the mantle following his television debut on Disney+'s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Rogers was annihilated in 2019 in Avengers: Endgame and fanboys might be used to characters being resurrected in the comic books. This time it's to no avail and Rogers is still a space corpse leaving Wilson to battle baddies in 2025. He faces a Brave New World, originally titled New World Order and made in 2023 with multiple reshoots afterward.

The 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has Wilson with his own apprentice Joaquin Torres and the duo are ready to fly into action with winged power suits. They visit the White House to mingle with international leaders and discuss a unique metal called adamantium. An evil gamma-radiated dude named Samuel Stern throws a monkey wrench into the works disrupting the meeting and causing havoc. A series of adventures follow to lead the two heroes into a special effects fight with a Red Hulk monster by the end.

The Brave New World reference isn't explained until the end and the script saves the humor until the last act as well. The running time of Brave New World is just under two hours, making this endeavor fly by faster than many of its predecessors.

World leans into the action and leaves out the jokes creating a more serious tone as compared to Guardians of the Galaxy. This overall atmosphere in the tale doesn't allow Anthony Mackie, as Sam Wilson, much to play with as a newish Captain America. He does have fun with Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon who reprises the role after The Falcon television show. By the way, Ramirez was slated to play gay in the new Todd Haynes flick but Joaquin Phoenix chickened out leaving the project hanging.

Harrison Ford has a meaty role and gets this patriotic party started from the intro as the president of the United States Thaddeus Ross. Ford often interacts with Shira Haas as Sabra who is very different from the mutant character in the comics and is now cinematically part of the Black Widow gang.

Samuel Sterns by Tulsa actor Tim Blake Nelson is modeled after comic villain The Leader and does an ample job of making mayhem.

While this tale of the Brave and the bold bad guys doesn't knock it out of the Phase Five park, it isn't bad for a popcorn movie with massive appeal thanks to the MCU. Captain America: Brave New World soars into theaters on Valentine's Day!