‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review: Can Sam Wilson Carry on Captain America’s Legacy?

Amidst a political current of polarity and extremity, “Captain America: Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah, endeavors to swoop in and save the day. The film — starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson’s Captain America — serves as both a political commentary of our current age and a story about finding purpose and power from within. “Captain America: Brave New World,” the latest addition to the Captain America series, is a spin on the classic superhero narrative, providing action and suspense as expected, but combined with leadership against the odds, commentary on complex racial issues, and a relentless fight with self-identity.

In the first fight of the film, Sam Wilson’s success in continuing the heroic legacy of Steve Rogers’ Captain America (Chris Evans) is put to the test. In “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” TV mini-series, Wilson had the opportunity to take the Super-Soldier Serum to enhance his strength, speed, and agility, however, he chooses to be a Captain America that fights with the power already within himself instead. Previously known as The Falcon, Wilson’s strength and versatility is portrayed in this initial fight as he aims to live up to the legacy of Rogers. Wilson not only uses the iconic Captain America shield to barrage and defend against his opposition, but he also envelops himself in Vibranium eagle wings to recharge and shield himself from injury. This encompassing symbol of wings is a great choice in direction and costume design and strongly portrays Wilson’s strength and versatility in the first action-packed scene.

Wilson’s new wings and the Captain America shield — both of which are made from Vibranium, a metal exclusively mined in the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda — call viewers to the significance of Wilson as a Black Captain America. Breaking free from the pressures and constraints of the historic and traditionally accepted Captain America symbol, Sam Wilson’s Captain America unearths the racial complexities that are often overlooked by Americans.

“Captain America: Brave New World” connects to viewers due to the undercurrent of racial struggle and liberation in the United States that it makes palpable from beginning to end. Onah re-introduces audiences to the once-forgotten and first true Black Captain America, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). After serving for the United States in the Korean War, Bradley was imprisoned and experimented on with the sole goal of recreating the Super-Soldier Serum. Bradley’s story is one reminiscent of many Black Americans with lineages of enslaved ancestral bloodlines, who, by force, pumped the blood into the heart of the country. Onah’s choice to revive Bradley’s storyline through the film poignantly calls upon audiences to re-examine the United States that was built upon the labor and objectification of Black Americans.

Onah not only re-introduces historic Marvel storylines, but also introduces a new plotline of a disagreement between Bradley and Wilson over attending a White House event. “I don’t care if it’s Ross in charge,” Wilson says, “We are guests of honor at the White House, when does that ever happen?” The diametric opposition between Wilson and Bradley as they argue whether to work towards progress from the inside of a problematic government or to dissociate from the corrupt system reminds the audience of current political discussions, specifically for people of color.

Unfortunately, with a foreshadowing as clear as this one, the fun doesn’t last long. Suddenly, Bradley — brainwashed by an unknown force — shoots at President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and runs away from the police before eventually being surrounded and taken into custody.

Like many recent Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, the film lacks impressive or engaging dialogue. For example, villain Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) tells President Ross, “I want my life back.” The humor is bland, predominantly consisting of the new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) being an unhinged, kiddish superhero who makes mistakes and doesn’t take life seriously. For many children and pre-teens, Torres’ lines could be laughed at. But, in a theater full of adults, the chuckles will be few and far between. In true MCU fashion, the dialogue and plot are overdone at times and viewers should be advised to suspend their disbelief in order to appreciate the film. The film’s pertinent themes, symbolism, and representation, however, make up for what it lacks in terms of dialogue.

What saves the movie from its lackluster second act is Sebastian Stan’s cameo as the retired Winter Soldier known as Bucky Barnes. After avoiding an unnecessary world war and seeing his pupil Torres fall from the sky and become critically injured, Wilson begins to lose faith in himself as a worthy Captain America and doubts his abilities without the Super-Soldier Serum. Standing outside of Torres’ operating room, Barnes — the friend and comrade of both Wilson and Rogers — reassures Wilson with a powerful line.

“The shield is more about who you are than the strength you have,” he says. “Steve gave people something to believe in, you give them something to aspire to.”

Mackie’s authenticity humanizes his new role as Captain America. His honesty resonates with any high-achieving individual from an under-represented background who has the opportunity to shift the narrative. Onah achieves this portrayal not only through Wilson’s vulnerable lines, but also through his cinematography. One shot is particularly striking in its production design and direction: the Red Hulk gripping the American flag, splitting the center of the screen, before Captain America flies in to defeat and de-escalate President Ross’ condition. This scene successfully portrays the immense obstacles that disadvantaged Americans have to overcome to succeed in the United States. Unfortunately, the thematic relevance of this standout shot cannot make up for the poor CGI and green screen editing used during the rest of the fight scene. The CGI of the fighting sequence makes the characters look as though they are in a video game, failing to transfix or generate the sense that viewers are in the fight themselves.

The final scene is salient to any overlooked or underserved American as Wilson visits Torres in the hospital and expresses the concern that he can’t save everyone.

“If I’m not on point, I feel like I’m letting down every single person that’s not at that table,” Wilson says. “That pressure, it weighs on you, makes you wonder if you’ll ever be enough.”

Ultimately, “Captain America: Brave New World” resonates with adult experiences of the barriers to success in America, while simultaneously being a film for children of any background to see a hero that they can aspire to be.

By centering Wilson’s struggles with responsibility, representation, and the weight of expectation, the film asks its audience — particularly those who have been and continue to be at a systemic disadvantage — what it truly means to carry a legacy forward. The film’s willingness to engage with these deeper themes has the potential to leave a lasting impact and makes up for the overdone aspects of its dialogue. In the end, it’s not just about who wields the shield, but about the ideals they fight for — and “Brave New World” makes it clear that those ideals are still worth defending.