‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Director Shuts Down Reshoot Rumors
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is MCU’s most recent installment and Sam Wilson’s first solo adventure as Captain America as he faces Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross, who over the course of the movie becomes the Red Hulk.
The film has allegedly faced its share of challenges, including reshoots, plot leaks, and mixed reactions from test screenings. Some reports suggested that test audiences found the political themes unengaging, the action underwhelming, and the romance lacking chemistry.
To address these concerns, reshoots took place over the summer, reportedly adding $100 million to the budget. Some sources even hint that elements of the ‘World War Hulk’ storyline may have been incorporated into the story.
The movie currently holds a lukewarm critics score on Rotten Tomatoes sitting at “rotten” 51% but fan reactions have been much more positive, as the movie currently holds 75% approval rate.
Given the critics’ score, many assumed the rumors about reshoots and troubled test screenings were true. However, director Julius Onah has once again debunked these claims, stating that while the film did go through reshoots, they were nothing excessive—just standard for an MCU production of this scale.
We only did one period of additional photography, which is the same on all of these movies.
In November 2023, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that an early test screening received negative reactions, leading to plans for extensive reshoots from January to mid-2024 and the removal of three major sequences. In December, ‘Moon Knight’ writer Matthew Orton was brought in to write new material for the reshoots, and Rosa Salazar was announced as part of the cast.
In May 2024, Giancarlo Esposito confirmed he had joined the MCU and would debut in a film before taking on a bigger role in a TV series. By the end of the month, it was revealed he was part of ‘Brave New World,’ joining the reshoots in Atlanta, which lasted 22 days. These reshoots focused on adding action scenes and integrating Esposito’s character but were less extensive than those for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ and ‘The Marvels.’
The film’s budget was reported at $180 million, much lower than ‘The Marvels” $300 million. Actor Tim Blake Nelson returned for reshoots, saying much of his original work was redone, while Anthony Mackie clarified that the reshoots were just to enhance the film, not overhaul it.
Producer Nate Moore said they aimed to perfect the film’s “political thriller tone,” and Esposito’s casting helped make the story feel more grounded. Harrison Ford, Rosa Salazar, and Takehiro Hira also took part in the reshoots.
Earlier this month, Anthony Mackie clarified that the reshoots for ‘Brave New World’ didn’t change the movie’s core story or overhaul the film. He explained that reshoots are a normal part of Marvel’s filmmaking process. Once the main story is put together, the team sometimes returns to add or refine a few scenes to improve the final product. According to Mackie, this is standard for every Marvel movie he’s worked on and doesn’t mean the film was drastically changed.
It wasn’t retooled at all, every Marvel movie I’ve done has done reshoots. It’s not retooling or remaking. You basically get the movie and the story you want, you edit it together, then go back and shoot a few more scenes.
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