- Marvel has released new teasers for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts
- Cap 4’s trailer reveals our best look yet at Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk
- The pair will close out Phase 5 of the comic book giant’s cinematic universe
2025 is going to be one of the busiest 12-month periods in Marvel Studios’ history – and, if trailers for two of its new movies are anything to go by, the comic-book giant could be in for another stellar year.
Fresh off announcing a packed 2025 Disney Plus TV show lineup in late October, Marvel debuted new looks at two of the three films it’ll release next year at last Saturday’s (November 9) D23 Brasil Expo presentation. The movies in question? Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, which will arrive in theaters on February 14 and May 2 respectively.
With Sam Wilson’s first big-screen outing as Captain America leading the charge, it’ll come as no surprise to learn that this Marvel Phase 5 film’s latest batch of footage came by way of an official trailer. It’s one of the more creatively original teasers that the Disney subsidiary has spliced together in a long time, too, with conflicting snippets of footage, which show off its largely duplicitous cast of characters (Wilson notwithstanding), speaking to its political-thriller vibes. Cap 4‘s latest teaser comes four months after Brave New World‘s initial trailer debuted a first look at Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, who’s revealed in all his glory in this new round of footage.
As for Thunderbolts, the second of three Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flicks received a lengthy special-look teaser. The three-minute-long video opens with an extended clip from the film, which shows Bucky Barnes appearing to save Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, US Agent, and Ghost from some unidentifiable bad guys, only for Bucky to turn the tables on the supposed rescuees.
The teaser, which arrives less than two months after Thunderbolts‘ first trailer unveiled an official look at Lewis Pullman’s Bob and Yelena Belova’s anti-hero squad, evolves into a more traditional trailer after that, with quick-cut footage that shows its morally complex characters working together as they trade quips and sarcastic barbs. The video also confirms who owns Avengers Tower now, with Valentina Allegra De Fontaine having bought the New York landmark in the wake of Tony Stark’s demise in Avengers: Endgame.
Ending on a high?
Anyone who’s frequented these parts will be aware that, ever since MCU Phase 5 began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February 2023, my confidence in Marvel has waned.
Yes, there have been customary successes for the comic titan. In 2024 alone, Marvel has given us one of the best Disney Plus shows of all time in X-Men 97. That animated series was recently joined on the TV front by highly-rated WandaVision spin-off Agatha All Along, whose popularity grew week-on-week. Add in the box-office juggernaut that was Deadpool and Wolverine, an MCU movie I really enjoyed even if some didn’t, and 2024 has seen Marvel succeed in its attempts to course-correct after a – by its lofty standards – terrible 2023.
Indeed, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and Loki season 2 notwithstanding, small- and big-screen duds in the form of Secret Invasion and The Marvels continued to showcase Marvel’s inconsistent creative approach to its cinematic juggernaut since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Yes, there were also great films and series that followed Avengers 4 between July 2019 and January 2023 – including WandaVision, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Shang-Chi to name just three.
For every good project, though, there was a bad and/or divisive one, such as Thor: Love and Thunder and – although I liked it – She Hulk: Attorney at Law. Throw in the 2023 Hollywood strikes and other issues that have plagued the studio, and Marvel has not only been fighting fires for years now, but also suffered numerous hits to its previously untouchable reputation.
Based on Cap 4 and Thunderbolts‘ new teasers, though, it seems the MCU’s latest phase will end with a bang, rather than a whimper. And even if it does go out on a low note, it won’t sound the MCU’s death knell, with eagerly anticipated films like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and two more Avengers movies, plus exciting Disney Plus shows including Daredevil: Born Again, also on the way. Even so, Marvel can’t afford to keep churning out critical and commercial duds, so it’ll hope 2025 doesn’t start as badly as 2023 did.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
