Captain America: Brave New Worldunderperforming at the box office has been addressed by theMarvel Cinematic Universe’s boss. Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson went on a journey to become the lead of theMCU’s Captain America moviesin bothAvengers: Endgameand Disney+‘sThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier. That led to the first of theMCU’s 2025 movies.
However, despite Sam’s long journey, the addition of Hulk-related characters like The Leader and Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, and more,Captain America: Brave New Worldfinished its global box office run with $415.1 million (viaBox Office Mojo) on a $180 million production budget, far below Chris Evans’Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s $714.1 million andCivil War’s $1.15 billion.
During a conversation about the MCU’s future with members of the press, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige (viaDeadline) claimed thatCaptain America: Brave New World’s disappointing box office performance was because it “was the first without Chris Evans.“The Steve Rogers actor famously left the role behind inAvengers: Endgame, where an older Steve gave Sam Wilson his shield.
What Kevin Feige’s Captain America: Brave New World’s Comments Mean
The Message Is Clear For The MCU’s Future Projects
Avengers: Endgamesaw key characters like Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow leave the MCU. Marvel Studios has since tried to develop their successors, with Sam Wilson leading a TV show and a movie, while Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova was recently the star ofThunderbolts*, which also underperformed, and Riri Williams’Ironheartseries finally arrived on Disney+.
With Kevin Feige claiming the reasonCaptain America: Brave New Worldwas not a hit is due to how it was the first Captain America movie without Chris Evans, the message for future MCU movies seems clear.Perhaps legacy heroes might not be the way to go for Marvel. Replacing Evans was always going to be a tall order.
$370.6 million
2011
$714.4 million
2014
$1.15 billion
2016
$415.1 million
2025
After all, the actor was one of the faces of the MCU alongside Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. With the MCU headed towards areboot at the end ofAvengers: Secret Wars,the future of the franchise might lie in recasting key roles like Evans’ Captain America. Marvel could also bring back Evans for the upcoming Avengers movies.
Our Take On Kevin Feige’s Captain America: Brave New World’s Comments
Based on how Feige believes thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldunderperforming has to do with it being the first movie without Chris Evans,I don’t think Marvel is going to go all-in on legacy characterslike it was doing. Maybe not in solo films at least. Bigger, more established heroes might be better thanCaptain America: Brave New World’s situation.
