Captain America: Brave New Worldis officially back on track, and as theMCU’s second-ever fourth installment for a character’s film franchise, some fans are worried this new installment will look more likeThor: Love and Thunder. While there are some obvious differences in how both of these sagas' fourth films are set up – Chris Hemsworth has playedThorin every appearance since his 2011 debut and the upcomingCaptain Americamovie features a legacy hero taking over the mantle – the largely negative reviews toThor: Love and Thunderimply the setting of some worrisome standards for any MCU hero’s fourth feature film.
Captain America and Thor have long elicited comparisons from fans of the films’ shared universe. Both Captain America and Thor’s film sagas debuted around the same time, both characters veered into several “fish out of water” tropes when brought to the main world, and both had their self-appointed identities stripped away with the dismantling of the institutions they represented (SHIELD and Asgard, respectively), just to start. While Captain America’s first three movies are more consistently loved among Marvel fans, both heroes' initial trilogies acted as feats of larger-than-life world-building and storytelling within the superhero genre. However,Thor: Love and Thundercould be the blueprint to undoing Marvel’s fourth installment experiment.
RELATED:Captain America 4’s Title Change Becomes Official With New Set Photo Shared By Marvel
Both movies are their character’s fourth entries
Both characters’ third films were beloved by fans from their initial release dates.Captain America: Civil Warnot only introduced two of the most popular Marvel Comics heroes into the MCU, but it also seamlessly picked up plot lines thatThe Winter Soldierleft unresolved and set the stage for shattered character dynamics that wouldn’t be resolved untilAvengers: Endgame.Civil Wareffectivelybroke up the Avengers right before their next team-up movie, all while maintaining the tones and themes of a thrilling action flick. It sets its main characters on opposing sides of an issue andmany fans still debate over who was actually in the right. It asks the big question seemingly ignored by previous films in the MCU: to what extent are these heroes responsible for the devastation of the events they set out to fix?
While Steve Rogers’ fate was sealed at the end ofAvengers: Endgame, despite many mixed reviews from fans of the character, the legacy of the Captain America figure lives on in Rogers’ chosen successor.TheFalcon and the Winter SoldierseesSam Wilson finally accept the shieldand follow in Rogers’ footsteps – all the way to a solo movie of his own.
AfterThor: Ragnarokbreathed new life into its main character following two rather stale solo films, many fans felt that Taika Waititi’s take on the franchise was the best thing that could have happened to the character.
Thor: Ragnarokwas fun. It allowed its characters room to exist within their own space and embraced the duality of joy and heartache in its story. It followed the tonal shift set byGuardians of the Galaxyand proved that there was room for levity and fun in the MCU, especially at a time when everything else was dire and drab and dangerously approaching melodrama. While many fans were excited about the follow-up toThor: Ragnarok, a film that many still consider one of the MCU’s best of all time,Thor: Love and Thunder’s over-reliance on unseriousness was just one of the many reasons audiences left the theatersunsure of what kind of movie they had just watched. This, in addition to other obvious missteps thatLove and Thundertook, sets a lackluster example of what a Marvel hero’s fourth movie can be.
What can Captain America 4 do differently?
Many of the criticisms forThor: Love and Thunderlie in the film’s obvious identity crisis. In many ways, the film feels as though it is actively trying to decide what genre it belongs to as the story progresses – all while relying on jokes that hardly land to push its story forward. What could have been a powerful film that introduces two of the most popular characters from the Thor comics and beautifully tells their stories,Gorr the God Butcher(played by Christian Bale) and Jane Foster’sThe Mighty Thor(played by Natalie Portman)aren’t treated with the reverence their stories deserveand add opposing performances that further confuse the ever-shifting tone of the film.
For a movie that relies on the ramifications of death as a driving force behind many of its main characters and plot lines, its forced silliness in an attempt to emulate what worked withRagnarokis its undoing.There is no balance inLove and Thunderand, as a result, it allows no room for its serious subject matter or brilliant performances from some of its lead actors to shine through the jokes and somewhat unfinished-looking visual effects.
Captain America: Brave New Worldcan avoid this same outcome by accomplishing one thing: telling a cohesive story. So long as the writers know what story they are telling, this new installment has the potential to solidify the Captain America franchise as one of the best of the MCU,rivaling that of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Mansagas as well.
Captain America 4 has one advantage
Captain America: Brave New Worldis breaking new ground for the MCU by introducing a legacy character as one of their main heroes. Fans have seen Sam Wilson through the beginning of his superhero journey inThe Winter Soldier, and have grown to love The Falcon as one of Captain America’s supporting characters. Now that the shield has been passed down, fans are eagerly awaitingAnthony Mackie’s portrayal of the next generation’s Captain America.
Mackie’s Captain America is already a breath of fresh air from the version audiences are used to. While the two have a very similar moral code,The Falcon and The Winter Soldieralready gave audiences a look at how Sam Wilson’s identity as a Black man in America already changes the way he operates in the superhero space. Wilson sees the world around him in a different way because his world is strikingly different from the one Steve Rogers operated in (pre- and post-70-year-nap). Having this universe’s classic symbol of The Great American Hero be worn by a Black hero is the necessary representation of America as it exists today.
Mackie taking over the mantle is undoubtedly the smartest move for the franchise because no one else could play the role better after Chris Evans’ departure. Anthony Mackie is a true talent with a dedication to the character of Sam Wilson that easily shows through in his performance. Fans know and love the character and are excited by this change in the roster for the Captain America franchise. Being joined by the likes ofHarrison Ford as General Thaddeus Ross,Tim Nelson returning as The Leader, and familiar faces from Mackie’sDisney+series returning (Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres and Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley),Captain America: Brave New Worldis shaping up to be a soft-reboot the franchise may need.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis set to premiere on May 3rd, 2024.
