I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS: Inside Captain America Brave New World’s Chaotic Production. ‘I Think Everyone Knew This Is Probably Not Going to Be a Good Film.’
In the dénouement of a bitterly contested presidential election but also as the opening salvo to a 2025 Marvel movie slate that carries through with Thunderbolts* [asterisk in the title — Ed] and Fantastic Four: First Steps (set to release, respectively, May 2 and July 25), Brave New World now finds itself reaching theaters at a turbulent cultural moment. Mackie discovered that the hard way during the press tour as his comments that “America represents a lot of different things and I don’t think the term, you know, ‘America’ should be one of those representations” went viral, sparking accusations of anti-Americanism and necessitating him to issue a hasty Instagram retraction/apology/clarification.
According to a technical crew member on Captain America: Brave New World who was present on set and has knowledge of the film’s postproduction process, Disney is all too aware of its potential liabilities — on the heels of disastrous test screenings last year that necessitated a lengthy 22 days of reshoots, the 11th-hour addition of a new supervillain played by Giancarlo Esposito, major sequences being cut, and the film’s release date being punted from February last year. In particular, Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk/Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross character created uncomfortable political resonances. A demagogic military leader who transforms into a rampaging, orange-skinned superhuman, the character shares certain unmistakable traits with Donald Trump. To be sure, the reshoots took place last summer, long before the 45th president was certain of becoming POTUS 47. But in recognition of what one insider calls an increasingly “politicized” environment, Disney changed the sequel’s original title from Captain America: New World Order to the comparatively anodyne Brave New World. (Indeed, in July, the studio pulled a theatrical trailer featuring footage of an assassination attempt on the Ross character out of sensitivity around a deadly attempt on Trump’s life earlier the same month.)
Moreover, this source (who has worked on several Marvel television and film projects and spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment publicly) described a high degree of difficulty on the reshoots and action set pieces that ran up the budget. Compounding matters, Ford (now 82) lived up to his reputation as a legendary curmudgeon on set, according to the source, making matters more difficult for Onah — an acclaimed independent filmmaker but one, like so many hired by Marvel, with zero experience directing within the trappings of a nine-figure budget. Marvel and Onah declined to comment; a representative for Ford did not respond to Vulture’s request for comment. A source close to the production said there is “no truth” to allegations that Ford’s behavior was unusually challenging.
I worked on the reshoots. I think everyone on the crew knew this is probably not going to be a good film. Some of the action sequences were not believable. We had a lot of frustrations on set. After principal photography was finished, it was like, “Oh, we’re going to introduce the leader of the Serpent Society.” It was on, then it was off, then it was on again. That’s very expensive to do. My co-workers who spent more time on Brave New World than I did said, “Yeah, this has been a really rough production.”
When the studio had its test in front of an audience, it didn’t respond. Maybe they don’t want to see anything political in an election year? Maybe they were divided on who they were voting for? General Ross reads as an allusion to Trump. He’s this very powerful general who becomes kind of a fascist and turns into a raging Red Hulk. This is my opinion, but I think Disney was realizing, Hey, we’ve been bleeding for a while. Let’s try not to piss off our core base any more than we have been over the last couple of years. They know you’re going to lose a lot of your audience that way.
Earlier: ‘If you genuinely think Trump is a fascist, go and have a lie down.’
