WhileCaptain America: Brave New Worldhas been pretty divisive in terms of reviews, it’s interesting to look at its overall box office performance to gauge its current financial success. Although some predicted the newMCUmovie was destined to be a commercial flop, that’s not necessarily true in actuality. To that end, it’s worth comparingBrave New Worldto Marvel Studios' past movies with weaker box office numbers.
Captain America: Brave New Worldwas released in theaters on February 14thby director Julius Onah. Starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka the new Captain America andHarrison Ford as President Thunderbolts Ross, tensions arise between Wilson and Ross amid a major conspiracy and Ross' eventual transformation into the monstrous Red Hulk.As a result, the movie has currently had two weekends at the box office, so here’s howCaptain America: Brave New Worldcompares to the MCU’s biggest flops.
2025
Worldwide Box Office:
~ $289 million
Although it’s still early, it can already be confirmed thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldisnotthe MCU’s biggest bomb at the box office. That title still goes to 2023’sThe Marvelswith a worldwide box office total of $204.7 million. This is a numberBrave New Worldhas already passed only two weeks in, as it’s currently sitting around $289 million. The new MCU movie has already earned more than2008’sThe Incredible Hulkstarring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, to whichBrave New World’splot has several ties.
However,Brave New World’scurrent numbers still put it below other MCU movies that were largely seen as commercial flops. This includes 2011’sCaptain America: The First Avengerswith a worldwide gross of $370 million, 2021’sBlack Widowat $379.7 million, andEternalsat $402.06 million. That said, the movie likely still has a few more weeks to go in its theatrical window.
Why Captain America: Brave New World’s Box Office Is So Low
Divisive Reviews (And It’s Not Exactly An MCU Event)
Divisive reviews have certainly played their role in the lower turnout to seeCaptain America: Brave New Worldcompared to other MCU movies. A majority of critics panned the movie, withBrave New Worldreceiving a disappointing 49% percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score is much more favorable with an 80%, though this has meant thatBrave New Worldhas needed to rely even more on positive word of mouth.
10 Reasons Captain America: Brave New World Critics And Audience Reviews Are So Split
Captain America: Brave New World has divided audiences and critics, and a few key reasons explain the difference in opinions about the MCU movie.
It’s also worth mentioning thatBrave New Worldcan arguably be considered a quasi-reboot of theCaptain Americafranchise desire being the fourth movie, considering it’s the first movie where Sam Wilson is the new Captain America, having inherited the shield and mantle from Steve Rogers inAvengers: EndgameandFalcon and the Winter Soldier.Also,Brave New Worldisn’t exactly an event-type film like 2024’sDeadpool & Wolverineor 2021’sSpider-Man: No Way Home, both of which earned over $1 billion at the box office.
Will Captain America: Brave New World Be A Box Office Success?
It’s On Its Way…
With a production budget of $180 million,Captain America: Brave New Worldhas already earned back its budget by over $100 million. As such, it certainly could be on its way to becoming even more of a success in the coming weeks, especially with not a lot of competition coming up in the way of rival blockbusters, at least not for a few more weeks. That said, it did experience a pretty heavy second-week drop (68%) despite earning the most compared to other theatrical releases.
“Captain America: Brave New Worldhas already proven itself to not be the worst-performing MCU movie of all time (but it certainly won’t be one of its best)…”
Only two other MCU movies had worse drops, withAnt-Man: Quantumaniaat 69% andThe Marvelsat 78%. With that in mind, I think it’s pretty safe to say thatBrave New Worldwill likely end up ending its run between 300-400 million. With that in mind,Captain America: Brave New Worldhas already proven itself to not be the worst-performing MCU movie of all time (but it certainly won’t be one of its best).
Captain America: Brave New Worldis now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios.
