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CNET
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
The Wait is Over. 'Captain America: Brave New World' Streams Today
As Thunderbolts continues its theater run as part of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Brave New World is now streaming and can be watched as much as you want. Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, who took over as superhero Captain America after Steve Rogers passed him the shield. The story builds on his iteration of the character in the MCU TV series Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and drops Sam into an evil plot that may or may not involve President "Thunderbolt" Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The movie premiered in theaters in February and also features Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly and Liv Tyler. Scroll on to find out when to stream and be sure to stay for the post-credits scene. Watch 'Captain America: Brave New World' on Disney Plus Marvel's newest Captain America entry hit Disney Plus on Wednesday, May 28. You can get a standalone streaming subscription for a starting price of $10 a month to watch with ads, upgrade to ad-free or save money with a Disney Bundle.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Heard Captain America: Brave New World Was Bad. I Finally Watched It, And It Became One Of My Favorite Recent MCU Movies
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. For a variety of different reasons, I was not able to catch Captain America: Brave New World in theaters, which is rare for me with Marvel movies. Though I didn't skip out on the 2025 movie because of the unfavorable critical response (CinemaBlend gave it two out of five stars in our official review), I admit there weren't a lot of people singing the film's praises. I was led to believe that this wasn't one of the best Marvel movies, but instead something bad, messy, and unfortunate. While one of those things may be true, I have to say that this wasn't a bad or unfortunate movie. Quite the contrary… I finally got around to watching Captain America: Brave New World, and it quickly became one of my favorite recent MCU movies. Sure, it didn't have a top-tier Marvel story, it was messy at times, and it felt like a continuation of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but it was a whole lot of fun and was much better than I expected. Let me explain… I will admit that Brave New World is messy at times – one of my colleagues previously pointed out issues with the Serpent Society, but unlike a lot of other Marvel movies from the past five or so years, the movie never dragged or wore out its welcome. One of the shorter MCU titles (two minutes shy of two hours, including the post-credits stuff), I was along with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and President Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross (Harrison Ford) from start to finish, and the story never lost my attention. Whether it was digging deep into conspiracies involving unsuspecting people (like Carl Lumbly's super soldier Isaiah Bradley) being controlled like winter soldiers to pull of some crazy stuff, or focusing on Cap kicking all kinds of butt, I was vibing with the movie the whole way through. I came into this film expecting some great action set pieces, and the movie more than delivered in this category. With multiple scenes where the new Cap takes on small groups of armed henchmen or soldiers, an explosive run-in between the United States and Japan over the celestial remains from The Eternals that sees Sam Wilson save the day just before a World War III destroys the planet, or the assassination attempt at the White House, there was so much to love here. But, the sequence that I dug the most, one that was featured heavily in all the trailers, was the fight between Captain America and Red Hulk in Washington, D.C. Without giving anything away to those who are even later than me getting to this movie, this massive and highly destructive battle is one of the coolest one-on-one fights I've seen in the MCU since Iron Man and Hulk in Avengers: Age of Ultron. We've got Cap flying, Red Hulk destroying everything in his path, and cherry blossoms all over the nation's capital. I'm here for all of it… Again, I'm not going to give anything away, but I have to point out that things aren't as they seem in Brave New World. As teased shortly before the film's February 2025 release, there's more to the villain side of things than was let on, resulting in a vast conspiracy that entangles pretty much everyone introduced. This aspect of the movie makes it feel right at home with the previous Captain America titles, as each of those featured some kind of conspiracy in one form or another. I'm not saying this gets on the level of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (a top-tier MCU movie), but the balance between superhero movie and gritty conspiracy/revenge thriller makes for a fun and engaging experience. Add in all the tensions between world leaders, and I was a happy camper with this one. I have come to terms with the fact that we'll probably never get a proper sequel to 2008's The Incredible Hulk for a variety of reasons, but Brave New World pretty much scratched that itch. I would even go so far as to say that this is essentially the sequel we never got. With pretty much every character not named Bruce Banner showing up, the movie picked up a lot of the themes of the MCU's second feature film and expanded upon them, especially when it came to the strained relationship between President Ross and his daughter, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Hell, even the villain's motivation stems from stuff that happened way back on the MCU timeline. Truth be told, I would love to get a proper movie with Bruce Banner one of these days, but I'm not mad in the slightest that the latest Cap movie is also a Hulk movie (just without Mark Ruffalo's character). Considering the late William Hurt, who played Thunderbolt Ross in every MCU movie up to this point, died in March 2022, the character had to be recast here. Although Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors and someone I never get tired of watching, I was initially worried about him stepping in a decade and a half after Ross was first introduced. While it did take me a few scenes to adjust to Ford's take on the character, not to mention a lack of signature mustache, I eventually came around and thoroughly enjoyed watching the Star Wars and Indiana Jones lead cause all kinds of mayhem. I have to admit that seeing Ford play a president again and be on Air Force One (albeit briefly) after all these years was also quite amusing. So, do I think Captain America: Brave New World is the best MCU movie of the past five years? No, not really. Is it the worst? Absolutely not. The moral of the story should be: don't always write off a movie because the critics hate it, because you might be pleasantly surprised.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Captain America: Brave New World' Sets Streaming Release Date
As Thunderbolts continues to make its mark in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Brave New World is ready to make its streaming debut on Disney Plus. Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, who took over as superhero Captain America after Steve Rogers passed him the shield. The story builds on his iteration of the character in the MCU TV series Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and drops Sam into an evil plot that may or may not involve President "Thunderbolt" Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The movie premiered in theaters in February and also features Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly and Liv Tyler. Scroll on to find out when to stream, and be sure to stay for the post-credits scene. Read more: Best Streaming Services of 2025 Marvel's newest Captain America entry will arrive on Disney Plus on Wednesday, May 28. You can get a standalone streaming subscription for a starting price of $10 a month to watch with ads, upgrade to ad-free or save money with one of the Disney Bundles. Disney Plus carries all Marvel content, including TV shows and movies like Daredevil: Born Again and all the Avengers films. You can sign up solely for the service, or get a bundle that packages it with Hulu and/or ESPN Plus. Bundles cost from $11 to $27 a month. See at Disney Plus
Business Insider
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Marvel's 'Thunderbolts*' brings a new team of antiheroes to the big screen. Here's what to know about the cast and characters.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Valentina Allegra de Fontaine In "Thunderbolts*," Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is the director of the CIA, who sets up the trap that brings the team of superheroes together. Valentina appeared in "Black Widow" and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier," where she recruited John Walker and Yelena Belova. In "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" she spied on the Wakandans. So, it is unclear where her loyalties lie. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an Emmy-winning actor known for starring in "Seinfeld" and "Veep," plays Valentina. Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova Yelena Belova is the adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), one of the original Avengers. In 2021's "Black Widow," a Soviet spy agency placed the two in a fake family and sent them to America on an undercover mission as children. After the mission was completed, the family was separated and Yelena and Natasha became Russian superspies known as Black Widows. By the end of the movie, Yelena and her adopted family had shut down the Black Widow program. In the series "Hawkeye," audiences learned that Yelena was among the many who vanished when Thanos erased half of all living things in the universe in "Avengers: Infinity War." Natasha died in "Avengers: Endgame" before the Avengers could bring Yelena back to life. Yelena attempted to kill Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) to avenge Natasha, but she eventually forgave him. In "Thunderbolts*," Yelena tries to find another way to move past her grief and trauma. Florence Pugh, an Oscar-nominated actor whose previous movies include "Oppenheimer," "Midsommar," and 2019's "Little Women," plays Yelena. Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes Bucky Barnes is a childhood friend of Steve Rogers, the first Captain America. After a near-death experience in "Captain America: The First Avenger," Bucky became the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed super-assassin. Steve saved Bucky and the Wakandans freed him of the brainwashing. In "Thunderbolts*," audiences learn that Bucky has become a congressman. Sebastian Stan, who got his first Oscar nomination for playing Donald Trump in the 2024 film "The Apprentice," stars as Bucky. David Harbour plays the Red Guardian Alexei Shostakov, also known as the Red Guardian, first appeared in "Black Widow" as a Soviet super-soldier. After he was cast aside by Russian forces, he worked with his adoptive daughters, Yelena and Natasha, to shut down the Black Widow program. In "Thunderbolts*," the Red Guardian is still trying to prove that he can be a great hero. Wyatt Russell plays John Walker John Walker is a former army captain who was appointed the new Captain America in "Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Walker later took a super soldier serum so he could live up to the Captain America status, but the US government stripped Walker of the Captain America title after he brutally killed a surrendering Flag Smasher in retaliation for his partner's death. Valentina recruited Walker at the end of the series and gave him the new mantle of US Agent. Wyatt Russell, the son of actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, plays John Walker. Hannah John-Kamen plays Ghost Ava Starr, introduced in the 2018 movie "Ant-Man and the Wasp," has the ability to move through solid objects. After a quantum tunnel exploded, killing her parents and giving her unstable powers, Ava was discovered by SHIELD, a spy organization in the Marvel universe, and turned into an espionage operative known as Ghost. Ghost's powers were killing her until Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Williams) transferred quantum energy to Ghost to stabilize her in the "Ant-Man" sequel. Hannah John-Kamen, who starred in "Killjoys" and "Ready Player One," plays Ghost. Olga Kurylenko plays Taskmaster Antonia Dreykov is the daughter of General Dreykov, an antagonist who appeared in " Black Widow." In the 2021 film, her father turned her into Taskmaster, a brainwashed assassin who can copy people's fighting techniques. At the end of the movie, Natasha freed Taskmaster from her brainwashing. However, it appears she is still an assassin in "Thunderbolts*." Olga Kurylenko, who starred in "Quantum of Solace," plays Taskmaster. Lewis Pullman plays Bob Bob is a new character whom Yelena, Ghost, and Walker come across while trying to kill each other. The character is based on the comic book character Sentry, a man who signed up for a government experiment to recreate Steve Rogers' super soldier serum. As a result, Bob gained various powers, including super strength, speed, and flight. In the comic books, the experiment also created a dark entity inside Sentry, known as the Void, which wants to take over his body and destroy the world. Lewis Pullman, known for his Emmy-nominated role in "Lessons in Chemistry" and "Top Gun: Maverick," plays Bob. Geraldine Viswanathan plays Mel Mel is another new character in the main cast of "Thunderbolts*" and she is Valentina's assistant. Fans have theorized that the character could be based on Songbird, who is a member of the comic book version of the Thunderbolts team. Songbird can create solid constructs out of sound and hypnotize people with her voice. Geraldine Viswanathan, who starred in "Blockers" and "Drive-Away Dolls," plays Mel.
Time Magazine
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Everything to Remember About All the Members of the Thunderbolts* Team
T hunderbolts*, out May 2, features Marvel's B-team superheroes—sidekicks and antagonists who have existed largely on the sidelines of the MCU for the past decade and a half. Now they are finally getting their moment to shine. The ragtag group joins together under the watchful eye of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a morally flexible private-sector spook who has been named the head of the CIA in the new film. Valentina, who was first introduced in the Disney+ series Falcon and the Winter Soldier and appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the ex-wife of Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), has quietly been gathering together a group of assassins to work on covert operations and now dreams of her own very public superhuman—or superteam—that she can control. But if you missed movies like Black Widow or Ant-Man and the Wasp or TV shows like Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you may be confused as to who these antiheroes who Valentina has collected are, what they've been up to for the last several years, and whether they're good guys or bad. Here is your spoiler-free guide to everything you need to know about the characters who make up the Thunderbolts team. Yelena Belova Introduced in Black Widow as the little sister of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johanson), Florence Pugh's Yelena was raised from childhood to be an assassin in the Russian Red Room, just like Black Widow before her. Yelena and Natasha are not sisters by blood but by circumstance: When they were children they were sent as spies to America and lived with a fake family of other covert operatives. David Harbour's Alexei Shostakov or Red Guardian (more on him later) and Rachel Weisz's Melina Vostokoff acted as their parents until all four had to escape back to Russia. The four reunite in Black Widow to eliminate the Red Room and save the women being brainwashed there. After the death of Natasha in Avengers: Endgame, Yelena became an assassin for hire working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who in Thunderbolts* is trying to build (and control) her own superhuman. Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier Sebastian Stan has been playing Steve Rogers' best bud, Bucky Barnes, since 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger. A lot has happened to Bucky since he fought alongside Cap during World War II in that film. Bucky fell from a train in that movie, apparently dying, but his body was recovered by HYDRA, a science-minded organization within the Nazi party. Bucky was given supersoldier serum, brainwashed, and transformed into the Winter Soldier. He performed many dastardly deeds for HYDRA, including murdering Tony Stark's parents. Steve eventually helped Bucky recover his memories and break free of HYDRA, and the Wakandans gifted Bucky an indestructible arm. Bucky fought alongside the Avengers against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and teamed up with Sam Wilson (The Falcon and, later, the new Captain America) in the Disney+ show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Since then, apparently Bucky has become an elected official, representing Brooklyn in Congress. Whether his commitments to supersoldier-ing will interfere with his duties as an elected official remains unclear. Alexei Shostakov/ Red Guardian The USSR's answer to Captain America, Harbour's Red Guardian is a washed-up super soldier who dreams of his days of glory as a Russian emblem of strength. A surrogate father to Natasha and Yelena, he was living in an Eastern European prison when the two girls broke him out during the events of Black Widow. John Walker An antagonistic force in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is a military vet who takes the supersoldier serum and, briefly, is dubbed by the U.S. government as the new Captain America. However, we learn that supersoldier serum has different effects on different people. In the scrawny but noble Steve Rogers, it brought out leadership qualities. For Walker, it enhanced his already-simmering rage and resentment. Though Walker isn't a bad guy, per se—he is in pursuit of justice—he doesn't have the moral compass of, say, Sam Wilson. Walker eventually kills an innocent man in front of a crowd in the streets, bloodying the sacred Captain America shield in the process. Walker is stripped of his title after that incident. But Valentina Allegra de Fontaine recruits the shamed Walker to be part of her network of privately paid assassins. Ghost Another misunderstood villain, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) is one of the antagonists in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The daughter of a former colleague of Hank Pym, Ava Starr has an encounter with the Quantum Realm as a child that grants her "phasing powers"—she can disappear and walk through walls—but leaves her in chronic pain. She joins S.H.I.E.L.D. as an assassin in exchange for a suit that allows her to control her instability and the promise of a cure that never manifests. By the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) uses the power of quantum physics to stabilize Ava. Taskmaster Though she does not play as large a role as the rest of the team in The Thunderbolts, Taskmaster does work for Valentina too. Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko) is the daughter of General Dreykov, the head of the Red Room. During an assassination attempt targeting General Dreykov, Natasha Romanoff almost kills Antonia. Antonia still carries the scars from the explosion. General Dreykov then trained Antonia to become Taskmaster and used a substance to control her mind. In Black Widow, Natasha and Yelena redeem Natasha's near-murder of Antonia by freeing her from the Red Room to restart her life. Bob Bob (Lewis Pullman) is a new character in the Thunderbolts, a mysterious man who seemingly appears out of nowhere inside Valentina's secret bunker. We won't reveal more about Bob here to avoid spoiling the movie.
