Put a nail in it; “Captain America” 5 is not happening.
Why? R-rated films have beat out Cap 4.
The fourth installment of the Marvel cornerstone franchise is dying with a whimper at a time when it should have no viable competition, performing well under “Novocain” and “Mickey 17.”
Premiering Feb. 14, it’s amassed $390 million against a budget that has been estimated between $180 million and $380 million. The wide disparity stems from the speculated cost of the film’s extensive reshoots.
“Captain America: Brave New World” has been critically panned. However, many speculated that the film’s lack of competition would be enough to save it.
That wasn’t the case. In fact, many chose to simply not go out to a weak box office, with last weekend being the worst of the year. This lackluster performance allowed two R-rated films rated much higher by critics to supplant Anthony Mackie’s debut film as the star-spangled hero.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. But there are some positives.
Mackie already proved in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” that he can be a leading man with the right material. He’s also played Sam Wilson for over a decade. His version of Captain America will get another chance — just maybe not in another standalone movie.
This also isn’t Marvel’s biggest loser. That title still firmly belongs to “The Marvels.”
It does severely blunt Marvel’s momentum. Cap 4 should have launched a new trilogy and restored people’s faith in the MCU.
As it stands, its oscillation between failures and hits will continue. While the blunted launches of pandemic films like “Black Widow” and “The Eternals” can be attributed to lockdown and people’s hesitancy to return to theaters after COVID, today quality separates Marvel’s successes from its failures.
For example, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” one of the MCU’s few recent $1 billion earners, is a fun and lovingly crafted dramatic comedy that is one of the best superhero films of all time. On the other hand, “Ant-Man” 3, one of the studio’s first outright flops in a while, is a boring and costly slugfest that’s afraid to take any risks.
There is little in-between those two extremes; a Marvel project will either be one of the best or worst in the genre these days. What happened to the average films that built this universe?
As long as Marvel still produces hits, it’ll still be able to attract investors. A 50/50 chance of making money is better than many betting odds, after all.
But it might have to pare back its offerings as the studio gets more careful about what it puts out. Its formula has gotten stale and it has a dearth of quality script writing.
There’s also been increased competition from streaming. The MCU has also been diluted by many canon TV shows. Marvel movies aren’t events anymore; they’re chores.
“Captain America” 5 is not happening. The studio can’t risk another loser like this.
Mackie is still the right person to play Cap, and we’ll see plenty of his character in other projects. But Marvel needs to pick itself off the ground.
Its last hope seems to be “Fantastic Four” and “Avengers: Doomsday.”
If those flop, that’s the beggining of the end for the MCU.
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