New Rumors about Captain America 4 and Avengers: Doomsday Spell Trouble for Marvel
Marvel is in flux right now if rumors are to be believed. Shortly after Robert Downey Jr.’s return was announced – as Doctor Doom, which still hits like a pie to the face – Chris Gore of Film Threat said that the studio was initiating a sea change, firing its activist producers and leaving wokeness and political correctness and DEI behind to give fans what they actually want. (How this is confusing to a company that did that for a decade is a mystery.) But he also said that we’d have to get through some more bad movies and shows before we saw the Marvel films with the new mission statement of being fun and entertaining. Some recent rumors and leaks have confirmed that Gore is at least half right, though any hopes for a return to the crowd-pleasing MCU of old may be premature.
First up is Captain America: Brave New World, the upcoming film starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson. This movie has had troubling rumors for some time, with postponed release dates and massive reshoots. Early reports were that the first round was due to poor test screenings, and they were extensive enough that the entire film was essentially being remade; Anthony Mackie has denied that and called it business as usual, but Tim Blake Nelson, who returns from The Incredible Hulk to play the Leader, confirmed that they “shot it twice.” This feels like Marvel’s new normal, with Midnight’s Edge reporting that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did the same thing. Additionally, Brave New World’s budget is believed to be $350-375 million after the reshoots, which also inserted a new villain, Sidewinder, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Now comes word that Brave New World has had more test screenings, and the reports are less than stellar. Word of Reel says that Marvel screened two versions of the movie, and the reactions are that it is “inessential” and “flat.” Scooper MyTimeToShineHello also says that he’s heard from three people who went to test screenings, and he says it “sounds awful.”
Just heard back from like 3 people who went to see Captain America Brave New World test screening and WOOF. Movie sounds awful pic.twitter.com/Cy8pnXeeJh
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) October 10, 2024
A detailed synopsis of one of the Captain America: Brave New World cuts has reportedly leaked online as well, and while I won’t give anything away here (you can read it for yourself at this link if you’re interested), it doesn’t sound great. Some of the things about the film that could have been interesting are lame, there just for the sake of being there rather than doing anything interesting with some old characters. There’s more All New, All Different Marvel crap, and one in particular that really pisses me off, as well as allusions to real-world politics, because of course there are. Giancarlo Esposito sounds like he’s wasted, which is par for the course with great actors hired by Marvel these days (Bill Murray, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe). Having read it, I’m still not really sure what the plot is. And this is being reported by someone who didn’t even hate the movie but thought it was only okay and kind of a rehash of The Winter Soldier and Civil War. That makes it sound even more like they’re just giving Sam Wilson other heroes’ castoffs; he’s evidently in an inferior version of two of Captain America’s movies, and he’s fighting Hulk’s villains. This fits with what Chris Gore said; it’s gonna be a rough ride for Marvel fans until at least The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
However, I’m not sure it’s going to get much better from there because new rumors are coming out about Doctor Doom and his presence in the next two Avengers movies. Alex Perez of Cosmic Book News recently did a Q&A with online users and, in response to a question about the Reed Richards/Doctor Doom rivalry, said that it will likely not be as in-depth as it is in the comics, with the pair having a dynamic similar to that of Tony Stark and Thanos in Infinity War. This, to me, is one of the pitfalls of Doctor Doom being used as a last-minute substitute for Kang the Conqueror instead of being given a proper setup and arc throughout a phase or phases. Doom won’t have a Fantastic Four movie (or movies) all to himself before he acts as the main villain of Avengers: Doomsday, so they won’t have time to establish his history with and animosity towards Reed Richards. And that annoys me because it’s an important part of his character. Everything about this feels rushed, including using Robert Downey Jr. as stunt casting for Doom. The only “win” they want is a sugar high that will get fans into theaters, not creating a version of Doctor Doom worthy of his origins. In fact, pretty much everything Perez says about Doomsday and Secret Wars sounds discouraging, particularly that the main Avengers will be Sam Wilson and Carol Danvers, as well as the return of Agatha Harkness and Sylvie from Loki and the inclusion of Kamala Kahn and Kate Bishop. Why even bother making an Avengers movie and stuffing it with the Not Ready for Prime Time Players? Maybe that’s why they cast Downey as Doom: they figured everyone would be rooting for him anyway.
Let us know what you think of these Marvel rumors in the comments!
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