A week after its release, Captain America: Brave New World‘s Rotten Tomatoes audience score reaches that of the MCU’s biggest box office bomb, The Marvels. Captain America: Brave New World is the MCU’s fourth Captain America installment and the first Captain America movie not to feature Chris Evans’ retired Steve Rogers. At $180 million, Captain America: Brave New World‘s budget makes the Phase 5 movie much more likely to become a commercial success than other Multiverse Saga releases. However, Sam Wilson’s first MCU starring role is falling behind the critical reception of all three of Steve Rogers’ solo films.
On February 20, 2025, Captain America: Brave New World‘s Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter has climbed to 80% — the same audience score as The Marvels. Both Captain America: Brave New World and The Marvels underperformed at the box office, but audience reviews have shown a different picture. The Marvel currently holds a Tomatometer of 62%, while Captain America: Brave New World‘s critics score stands at 49%.
What Captain America: Brave New Worlds’ RT Audience Score Being The Same As The Marvels Means
Positive Audience Reviews And Good Box Office Results Sometimes Aren’t Connected
Captain America: Brave New World and The Marvels hold the same audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, yet The Marvels grossed a total of $206 million worldwide, and Captain America: Brave New World grossed $192 million over its three-day opening weekend. Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s $227 million opening weekend blows both movies out of the water, and its $476 million could still fall short of Captain America: Brave New World‘s total worldwide numbers. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s Popcornmeter remains at 81% and its Tomatometer stands at 46% — not too far from the other two films.
Captain America: Brave New World currently holds the third lowest Tomatometer score in the MCU, but it still has a higher Popcornmeter than many other MCU installments, including The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Love and Thunder, Iron Man 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Curiously, in terms of critics’ score, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, which holds a 92% Popcornmeter, lands only 1 percentage point below Captain Marvel, which holds a 45% audience score — 78% vs. 79%, respectively. In short, scores can be quite discordant regardless of box office results.
Our Take On Captain America: Brave New Worlds’ RT Audience Score Being The Same As The Marvels
Captain America: Brave New World Isn’t Exactly Better Or Worse Than The Marvels
Critics and audiences can have similar reactions to Marvel projects, but their box office success can vary greatly due to myriad different factors, including release dates, delays, and audiences who don’t voice their reactions online. While it’s true that some projects are more successful than others across the board, no number can define an MCU installment completely accurately, both in terms of quality and in terms of popularity. Although Captain America: Brave New World‘s critics and audience reactions pale in comparison to previous Captain America installments, it cannot be described as a failure in any way.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
