A negativeMCUtrend prevails withCaptain America: Brave New World’s critics' score onRotten Tomatoes, but it may not be a problem for Marvel.Captain America: Brave New Worldis the MCU’s fourthCaptain Americainstallment, but Sam Wilson’s first MCU solo movie. Steve Rogers left Sam Wilson a huge responsibility when he bestowed him with the shield. While Sam gave up the shield for a brief time, he proved his skills to the world multiple times afterward, and he currently holds both the Captain America title and the ability to assemble a new Avengers team should a situation call for it.
Thaddeus Ross, Samuel Sterns, and Betty Ross return seventeen years after their MCU debut inThe Incredible Hulk, thoughBruce Banner doesn’t appear inCaptain America: Brave New World. Instead,it’s Captain America who fights Red Hulk and thwarts the Leader’s plans, and also the one who helps Betty Ross and her father reconcile. Captain America also defends Tiamut’s body from becoming the inciting event of an international war after a considerably long period without any reference to the events ofEternals. But whileCaptain America: Brave New WorldbringsThe Incredible HulkandEternalsto the forefront again, it doesn’t fare much better than them with critics.
All MCU Projects Directly Related To Captain America: Brave New World Have Gotten Disappointing Rotten Tomatoes Scores
Captain America: Brave New World Gathers Events From Unpopular MCU Titles
Captain America: Brave New Worldconnects directly toThe Incredible HulkandEternals, and unfortunately, joins them at the very bottom ofRotten Tomatoes' MCU movie rankings by critics' score.Eternalsstands at the second-to-last spot with a 47% Tomatometer, just one percentage point aboveAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s 46%.Captain America: Brave New Worldis in the third-to-last spot ofRotten Tomatoes' MCU list, right aboveEternals, at 49%.The Incredible Hulkstands four spots above, with a 68% Tomatometer. Twenty-six other MCU movies surpass all three movies in terms of critics' score.
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The Falcon and the Winter Soldierhas a much higher critics' score thanCaptain America: Brave New World,Eternals, andThe Incredible Hulk. In fact, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes' Disney+ series holds a"fresh"critics' score at 86%, towering above all three of the aforementioned movies. However,The Falcon and the Winter Soldiercomes in eighth of twelve MCU shows inRotten Tomatoes' rankings. There’s fierce competition on the small screen when it comes to Marvel Studios' Disney+ series, and shows such asMs. Marvel,WandaVision, andLokiovershadowedThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with 98%, 92%, and 87%, respectively.
Captain America: Brave New World’s Critical Reception Makes At Least Two Sequels More Unlikely
The Incredible Hulk 2 And Eternals 2 Aren’t Coming Anytime Soon
The Incredible Hulkisn’t a particularly popular Phase 1 movie, and Hulk’s troubled distribution rights makes a direct sequel unlikely to materialize anytime soon. And seventeen years afterThe Incredible Hulk’s release,Hulk has already completed a full character arc across various supporting appearances.Eternalshas been a divisive movie, its characters and set-ups haven’t been addressed since its 2021 release, andEternals 2has reportedly been canceled altogether. Considering how many projects Marvel Studios is developing or producing for Phases 5 through 7,The Incredible Hulk2andEternals2have remained unlikely for a while.
The fact that none of these three movies' characters and plotlines have been at the center of a well-received MCU movie could influence their future appearances
Captain America: Brave New WorldbringsThe Incredible HulkandEternalsback to the spotlight, but it had a similar critical reception. Although a film’s critical reception depends on a wide variety of factors, the fact that none of these three movies' characters and plotlines have been at the center of a well-received MCU movie could influence their future appearances. Elements such as Adamantium, Tiamut’s corpse, Gamma monsters, and the Celestials may continue to pop up in future MCU projects, but they may not get another movie of their own. Marvel may instead focus on other areas like the multiverse and mutants.
Captain America: Brave New World’s Critics And Audience Scores Suggest Not All Hope Is Lost For Future Sequels
Audiences Liked Captain America: Brave New World Much More Than Critics
Captain America: Brave New World,The Incredible Hulk, andEternalshaven’t won critics over, andThe Falcon and the Winter Soldierhas been overshadowed by massive Disney+ hits. However, general audiences have disagreed.Captain America: Brave New Worldholds an audience score thirty percentage points above its critics' score, at 79%.Eternals' Popcornmeter stands at 77%, andThe Incredible Hulk’s stands at 69%.The Falcon and the Winter Soldierbreaks the trend again with an audience score of 81% against a critics' score of 85%, but it still ranks quite high in the MCU’s overall rankings.
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Again, all three movies struggle to match most other MCU movies' Popcornmeter, but their audience score isn’t as low as their critics' score. However,The Incredible Hulk’s 69% audience score beatsCaptain Marvel’s 45%,Eternals'77% beatsCaptain America: The First Avenger’s 75%, andCaptain America: Brave New World’s 79% matches that ofBlack Panther, which otherwise holds the top spot onRotten Tomatoes' MCU rankings in terms of critics' score, at 96%. Going exclusively by audience reception, it seems possible forCaptain America: Brave New World,Eternals, andThe Incredible Hulkto have direct sequels, eventually.
Captain America: Brave New World Saves Some Of The MCU’s Least Popular Titles From Irrelevance
The Incredible Hulk And Eternals Will Likely Live On In Different Forms
Regardless of whetherCaptain America: Brave New World,The Incredible Hulk,Eternals, andThe Falcon and the Winter Soldierreceive direct sequels or not, the fact thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldmade their plot relevant again is already a significant sign of faith in them by Marvel. Apart from Celestial Island and Samuel Sterns,Captain America: Brave New Worldalso remembered Abomination’s rampageand Thaddeus Ross' hatred for the Hulk, and it brought back Isaiah Bradley.While characters usually don’t mention the events ofThe Incredible HulkandEternalsexplicitly, they still have an important place in the MCU’s world history.
Captain America: Brave New World Has Kicked Off An Unusual Trend For The MCU That’s Already Been Confirmed For 3 2025 Releases
The MCU’s first three releases of 2025 all have a connecting trait, and it’s introduced by a few characters in Captain America: Brave New World.
If Marvel Studios doesn’t release direct sequels to these titles, future MCU projects can still revisit their story soon. Adamantium will probably play a key role in the MCU’sX-Menmovies and shows, the Leader may return inAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warsafter his multiversal tease duringCaptain America: Brave New World’s post-credits scene, and President Ross' transformation into Red Hulk could be addressed in any upcoming movie or show. In-universe, the events ofThe Incredible Hulk,Eternals, andThe Falcon and the Winter Soldiermay remain the main topic of discussion for a while afterCaptain America: Brave New World.
