Looks like Captain America: Brave New World is taking a page from the “less is more” playbook. According to AMC Theatres, the upcoming superhero film will run for 118 minutes (1 hour 58 minutes), making it the shortest entry in the Captain America franchise.
This runtime marks a historic shift, falling below the 124-minute runtime of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and significantly shorter than Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016), which ran for 136 and 147 minutes, respectively.
The trend of shorter runtimes in recent MCU films has raised questions about whether brevity translates to quality. Captain America: Brave New World joins a lineup of streamlined movies during the Multiverse Saga, following the example of Thor: Love and Thunder (119 minutes) and The Marvels (105 minutes).
However, these films received mixed receptions, with The Marvels earning just US$206.1 million globally, making it the lowest-grossing MCU film in 17 years. Despite this, Phase Five entries have averaged runtimes of 126 minutes, showing Marvel’s deliberate effort to keep movies concise.
Early box-office projections for Captain America: Brave New World predict an opening weekend haul of US$80–100 million at the North American box office. Expectations are high for Anthony Mackie’s first outing as the titular Captain America. This sequel has large shoes to fill, considering Captain America: Civil War earned over US$1.1 billion globally and remains a fan favourite.
The film, directed by Julius Onah, will see Mackie’s Sam Wilson take on critical missions alongside the newly sworn-in U.S. President Thaddeus E. ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, played by Harrison Ford. However, their alliance faces challenges when Wilson becomes entangled in an international incident, putting him at odds with Ross. The narrative will delve into Wilson’s struggle to uncover the true culprits behind the controversy.
Joining the cast are Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, and Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph. The film also features Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns/The Leader and Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker/Sidewinder.
Captain America: Brave New World is the penultimate Phase Five film and continues the storyline from Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Whether its shorter runtime will deliver an engaging story remains to be seen, but fans will find out when it hits cinemas on 13 February.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Sylus from Love and Deepspace.
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