Marvel Studios keeps playing in the Same Old World

Before a superfan decides to write me an angry email, let me just say a few things at the start:

• I’ve seen all 35 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• I like most of them!
• Harrison Ford is a Hollywood legend.
• I want Anthony Mackie to hold the mantle of Captain America. He has a commanding screen presence, and I don’t want the MCU to mess with the perfect sendoff it gave to Steve Rogers in “Avengers: Endgame.”

With all that out of the way, it pains me to pile onto a growing consensus: The MCU is an (expletive-deleted) mess right now, and “Captain America: Brave New World” is another step away from what made the run into “Endgame” so miraculous.

I’m not here to formally review “Brave New World,” a movie with FIVE credited screenwriters, multiple delays and expensive reshoots. I’m not even here to point out the irony of how those delays led Disney to release a movie that climaxes with a vengeful president throwing a fit at a press conference within a month of the inauguration of someone who has thrown fits about various Disney business ventures and … actually, no, I’m not taking the bait on that one either. No angry emails!

Instead, I’m here to tell you about the three biggest takeaways from “Brave New World.”

1) It’s primarily a direct sequel to 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” a film that happened 33 MCU movies ago. Do you remember Tim Blake Nelson’s character in that movie? How about the story of the strained relationship of Gen. Thaddeus Ross and his daughter, cellular biologist Betty Ross? Would it help to recall that the two main characters of that movie were eventually recast? (Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as the MCU’s Hulk/Bruce Banner, who does not appear in this new movie, and Harrison Ford replaced Thadeus Ross, following the death of actor William Hurt in 2022). As an aside: Harrison Ford is disinterested and basically asleep in the role.

2) The titular Captain America has almost nothing to do with the narrative in “Captain America: Brave New World.” He fights. Occasionally, he laments about whether he is worthy of taking on the moniker of Captain America — a storyline that was more thoughtful and fleshed out in the MCU’s Disney+ series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Here, Anthony Mackie says, out loud, “I don’t know if I deserve the shield,” three or four times only for some other character to quickly rebut, “Nah, you’re good.” What’s the point of making all these Disney+ shows if Marvel is just going to reset and retread the same storyline in a subsequent movie? Yes, I’m looking at you, “Wandavision” and “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.”

3) The fight sequences in “Captain America: Brave New World” are actually pretty good. Pour enough money into something, and I guess even the most broken narratives can incorporate a couple of entertaining set pieces.

To recap, “Brave New World” is the following: 1. A sequel to one of the least-liked and least consequential MCU films; 2. A lazy retread of better character arcs from vaguely remembered television shows; and 3. Expensive eye candy (that all got spoiled in the film’s marketing anyway).

What are we doing, Marvel? I guess good luck with the next two flicks set for release later this year.

•••

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

    This image released by Disney shows, from left, Takehiro Hira, Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford in a scene from Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Brave New World."

    This image released by Disney shows Anthony Mackie in a scene from Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Brave New World."