Captain America: Brave New World's Box Office Raises Questions About The MCU's Future

Disney-owned Marvel Studios has a new movie out. Captain America: Brave New World debuted at number one on disc sales charts which is good. The movie finds Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the new Captain America, caught in an international problem. There is also a plot with the new U.S. president Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The film made $200.5 million at the domestic box office. While hitting number one on disc sales sounds like a win the overall picture for this film and the MCU makes me wonder what is going on.

The latest Captain America movie has made headlines for its financial performance and some surprising story choices. I feel like this movie and another recent Marvel film are sparking some uncomfortable questions about where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is headed. When I looked at the numbers it was a bit of a shock. The difference in how much money these films made compared to another recent Marvel movie is quite large. It is easy to see that something has changed in the superhero world.

Many people have wondered about the MCU's recent struggles at the box office. Some characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy used to bring in huge crowds. Now it feels like smaller characters and teams are not having the same success. I believe Marvel needs a string of big hits to calm these concerns. The debut of the Fantastic Four and upcoming Avengers Movies might help. But right now the path forward feels a bit unclear.

How Captain America: Brave New World's Box Office Compares to Recent Marvel Movies

Analyzing the Numbers and What They Might Mean for Upcoming MCU Productions

Sadly Captain America: Brave New World and another movie, Thunderbolts, are among the lowest-grossing MCU movies of all time. On the other side of the spectrum is Deadpool & Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman led that film in their MCU debut. Deadpool & Wolverine earned $1.3 billion worldwide. This made it the eleventh MCU movie to reach that much money. The first two MCU movies of 2025 have not come close to that success.

Captain America: Brave New World earned a global total of $415.1 million. The combined box office of the MCU’s first two 2025 movies is 42% lower than Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office. This is a big difference. I believe several reasons explain why Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office total is much higher. First is the popularity of the main characters. Chris Evans’ Captain America was a huge part of the MCU. Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson has mostly been a supporting character. So I always expected his first Captain America movie to have a lower box office. I hoped it would grow with sequels.

For the Thunderbolts, the team is made up of smaller characters from all over the MCU. While there are some well-known anti-heroes and actors the cast does not have the same pull as Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman coming together as comic book accurate versions of Deadpool and Wolverine. The 2024 film also used the multiverse and people's fondness for older characters. It brought back favorites like Chris Evans as the Human Torch. The MCU has seen some superhero tiredness over the past few years. Deadpool & Wolverine’s R rating gave it a different experience for the franchise.

I worry that Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts’s disappointing box office results might become the new normal for the MCU. The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a chance to change this theory. That film marks the first time Marvel Studios is working with the iconic team. Anticipation for the Fantastic Four is very high. Even if the final 2025 MCU movie is a big success I still worry that smaller characters and teams will no longer do well at the box office.

Captain America: Brave New World Makes Us Look Differently At Civil War

How The Film Changes Our Understanding of Past Key MCU Events

The Marvel Cinematic Universe often brings back moments from earlier in the franchise. Sometimes these are small things like Peter Parker being at the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2. Other times they are big changes. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier confirmed Bucky Barnes was responsible for the death of Tony’s parents. But The Winter Soldier’s change is nothing compared to the one in Captain America: Brave New World. This new film changes the events of Captain America: Civil War in a big way.

Beyond Sam Wilson, Brave New World’s biggest link to Civil War is Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. He becomes president in the 2025 movie. His rise to power is not as simple as it looks. There is someone behind the scenes pulling his strings. Ross first appeared in The Incredible Hulk. He was hunting Bruce Banner. He recruited Emil Blonsky, a decorated British Royal Marine, to help him. The two trapped Banner at a college. But Banner turned into the Hulk. Blonsky got serious injuries. When he met Samuel Sterns, who had been working with Banner’s blood, he forced Sterns to inject him with the dangerous substance. This turned him into the Abomination. Sterns was also exposed to the blood during Abomination’s escape.

Sterns' whereabouts have been a mystery until Brave New World. In this film, he starts a plan to show the world who Ross truly is. It turns out Ross found Sterns after the attack on Harlem. He put him in a secret site where he could use him for various projects. Ross's main goal was to heal himself of an illness. But when Sterns realized his captor would never let him out the villain changed his plans. While Ross’s career was taking off he was slowly turning into a Hulk. This was the same type of creature he had hunted for years. Sterns may have caused even more trouble by giving Ross an idea that tore the Avengers apart.

Brave New World makes it clear that Ross uses Sterns’ extreme intelligence when he is in a difficult situation. After Harlem, the only big puzzle for Ross was the creation of the Sokovia Accords in Civil War. He believed the Avengers could not work on their own anymore because of all the damage they caused. So he brought Tony Stark the idea to have everyone register with the United Nations. Tony agreed. He felt bad about his past mistakes including creating Ultron. Steve Rogers on the other hand wanted to choose his missions without government interference.

The moral disagreement pushed Iron Man and Captain America to their limits. The two heroes created new teams to fight each other. Ross was in the middle of it all wanting to bring in Steve and his group quickly to end the conflict. He did not get his wish. Steve escaped and later made up with Tony before Helmut Zemo showed them the tape of Bucky killing Maria and Howard Stark. This information made things worse. The Avengers were separated when Thanos and his Black Order arrived in Avengers: Infinity War.

Ross likely did not mean to leave Earth almost defenseless when he pushed the Sokovia Accords. Still, there is a possibility that Sterns came up with the idea and understood the consequences of the political decision. After all, Brave New World’s post-credit scene shows he is smart enough to know that the multiverse is becoming a bigger threat. This is a much larger issue than just breaking up Earth’s mightiest heroes. It leaves us wondering just how much influence Sterns had on key MCU moments.

What Does All This Mean For The Overall Direction of The Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Considering The Path Forward For The MCU After These Recent Box Office And Narrative Choices

The current performance of movies like Captain America: Brave New World makes many people, including me, question the MCU's path. It seems like the days of new properties like the Guardians of the Galaxy becoming massive hits might be over. I believe Marvel will now have a series of successes that will calm box office worries. These will come from big events and fan-favorite characters returning, like the Fantastic Four’s introduction, the new Spider-Man movie, and the upcoming Avengers films.

However, there are whispers about a soft reset of the MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars. This sounds like the best way to bring main characters back into the MCU. It might help avoid box office disappointments like Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World. The studio has a big challenge ahead. They need to find a way to keep fans excited and bring back the consistent success they once had. The future of the MCU feels like it is at a crossroads. I am waiting to see which direction they take.