Marvel Boss Blames Chris Evans’ Exit for ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Box Office Flop

Captain America: Brave New World didn’t perform well at the box office, and now Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has explained why he thinks that happened.

In this latest Captain America movie, Anthony Mackie plays Sam Wilson, the hero who took over after Steve Rogers passed him the shield in Avengers: Endgame. Sam’s story had already been explored in the Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Brave New World was supposed to continue his journey on the big screen.

However, the movie’s success didn’t match earlier films in the series. According to Box Office Mojo, Brave New World made about $415 million worldwide, on a production budget of $180 million. That’s much less than Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which made over $700 million, or Captain America: Civil War, which crossed the billion-dollar mark.

Talking to reporters about the disappointing results, Kevin Feige (via Deadline) blamed the absence of the original Captain America star, saying the movie struggled because it “was the first without Chris Evans.” Evans left the role after Endgame, where his character Steve Rogers passed on his shield to Sam Wilson.

Critics didn’t exactly help the film either. Brave New World received mixed reviews overall. While some praised Mackie and Harrison Ford’s performances, many critics pointed out that the story was weak and packed with too many unnecessary references to other Marvel movies.

On Rotten Tomatoes, less than half of the critics gave it a positive review, and the general opinion was that the movie felt too familiar and cluttered. As the critics consensus put it, “Anthony Mackie capably takes up Cap’s mantle and shield, but Brave New World is too routine and overstuffed with uninteresting Easter eggs to feel like a worthy standalone adventure for this new Avengers leader.”

Metacritic wasn’t any kinder, giving the movie a score of 42 out of 100. Audience reactions weren’t much better. CinemaScore gave Brave New World a “B–,” the lowest grade given to any Marvel film so far. PostTrak said audiences rated it just three stars out of five.

But was the missing Chris Evans really the problem? Or was the movie itself just not that good?

According to early reports before the movie even hit theaters, test audiences didn’t like the first version of the film at all. Marvel reportedly ordered major reshoots to try and improve it.

Rumors also suggested that several important characters were cut from the movie. Rosa Salazar was supposed to play Diamondback, who would have been Sam’s love interest. However, insiders claimed she was removed from the film because her chemistry with Anthony Mackie wasn’t working.

Seth Rollins’ character, King Cobra, was also reportedly cut. His scenes were said to have been dropped to give more screen time to Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, a character who, according to Esposito himself, might have a future in the MCU.

One of the biggest disappointments for fans was that the Serpent Society storyline, which had been teased early in development, was almost entirely removed. As a result, much of the final movie felt disjointed, as if it was patched together from whatever scenes worked best in test screenings.

Fans were also unhappy about Red Hulk. The character was a major part of the film’s trailers and posters, yet in the final movie, Red Hulk appeared for just about five minutes. This left many viewers feeling tricked by the marketing.

In the end, Feige might be right that Chris Evans was missed, but blaming everything on that doesn’t tell the whole story. The film itself didn’t give fans much to get excited about.

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