Captain America’s fourth film, ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ has been released nearly 9 years after the last film was released, premiering Valentine’s Day 2025. In the newest film, Anthony Mackie plays Sam Wilson, the newest Captain America, replacing Steve Rogers, the original Captain America; this sparked controversy over social media. Fans claim that “Steve Rogers is Captain America” and Wilson could never replace him.
Regardless of the controversy, fans have eagerly anticipated the film’s debut. Students of Champion High School, superfans of the comics, and general audience members alike have much to say about this film and the topics that follow.
“All of the recent movies have been cheesy, with all the voice lines and how the characters act in situations,” Sophomore Dexter Radford said. “It just feels like there is a script for all of (the movies) that are really similar and I feel like this may just be another cash grab.”
Marvel movies like ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania,’ and ‘The Marvels’ have had lackluster audience reviews, setting a negative precedent for future films that release in this universe, such as ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’ It has led many fans to miss how the Marvel Cinematic Universe used to be before all of these changes.
“I think most people want [Steve Rogers] back, which sucks because you need to do the whole multiverse thing to bring him back, which I know they’ll eventually do,” Radford said. “I think they should stick to Falcon, he’s cool.”
Joaquin Torres is making his movie debut in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ after first appearing in the show ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier.’ With Wilson moving away from his old identity, the Falcon, he’s given it to Torres, who will serve as Captain America’s new sidekick.
“I haven’t really heard much about him (before) the trailer.” Junior Sophia Cowart said, “I think it’s cool that Sam can share his experience as a former sidekick of a really cool superhero.”
Facing these heroes is U.S. President Ross, who turns into the Red Hulk. Many fans debate how Wilson will survive the encounter with the Red Hulk, as the trailers have revealed a showdown between the two.
“I think it’ll play into strategic and tactical stuff, instead of brute strength,” Radford said.
In many of the trailers for the movie, Wilson is shown wearing a suit more similar to Rogers’s suits, with a similar color scheme as opposed to the suit he wore in ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier,’ in which his suit was primarily white.
“I think I like his new suit a lot more than his design from ‘Falcon and The Winter Soldier,’” Junior Timothy Weir said. “The red, white, and blue is what makes Captain America Captain America, it’s too iconic. It needs to be different because of [Sam]. He’s his own person, but still keeping true to the design and where he came from.”
Overall, students are enthusiastic about the release of ‘Captain America: Brave New World,’ despite the film being such a diversion from the last.
