Captain America: Brave New World's RT Audience Score Is The Same As The MCU's Record-Breaking $206M Box Office Bomb

A week after its release, Captain America: Brave New World's Rotten Tomatoes audience score reaches that of the MCU's biggest box office bomb, The Marvels. Captain America: Brave New World is the MCU's fourth Captain America installment and the first Captain America movie not to feature Chris Evans' retired Steve Rogers. At $180 million, Captain America: Brave New World's budget makes the Phase 5 movie much more likely to become a commercial success than other Multiverse Saga releases. However, Sam Wilson's first MCU starring role is falling behind the critical reception of all three of Steve Rogers' solo films.

On February 20, 2025, Captain America: Brave New World's Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter has climbed to 80% — the same audience score as The Marvels. Both Captain America: Brave New World and The Marvels underperformed at the box office, but audience reviews have shown a different picture. The Marvel currently holds a Tomatometer of 62%, while Captain America: Brave New World's critics score stands at 49%.

What Captain America: Brave New Worlds' RT Audience Score Being The Same As The Marvels Means

Positive Audience Reviews And Good Box Office Results Sometimes Aren't Connected

Captain America: Brave New World and The Marvels hold the same audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, yet The Marvels grossed a total of $206 million worldwide, and Captain America: Brave New World grossed $192 million over its three-day opening weekend. Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's $227 million opening weekend blows both movies out of the water, and its $476 million could still fall short of Captain America: Brave New World's total worldwide numbers. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's Popcornmeter remains at 81% and its Tomatometer stands at 46% — not too far from the other two films.

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Captain America: Brave New World currently holds the third lowest Tomatometer score in the MCU, but it still has a higher Popcornmeter than many other MCU installments, including The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Love and Thunder, Iron Man 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Curiously, in terms of critics' score, Deadpool & Wolverine, which holds a 92% Popcornmeter, lands only 1 percentage point below Captain Marvel, which holds a 45% audience score — 78% vs. 79%, respectively. In short, scores can be quite discordant regardless of box office results.

Captain America: Brave New World's Rotten Tomatoes Score Mirrors A Common Superhero Movie Trend

Captain America: Brave New World Reflects A Trend Found Inside & Outside Of The MCU

While its Rotten Tomatoes results are certainly notable, Captain America: Brave New World is by no means the first superhero movie to have a far higher Popcornmeter than its Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, or even the first Marvel movie. While some releases like Iron Man or Doctor Strange have these scores the other way around - likely owing to their place in establishing the first era of the MCU and thus in cementing the franchise's growth to new heights - it's been common in recent years for the Popcornmeter to have the higher score.

This can be evidenced with Marvel movies likeVenom: The Last Dance, which currently has a 40% Tomatometer and 80% Popcornmeter - marking an even more drastic difference between the two results than Captain America: Brave New World itself. However, it's also worth noting this is by no means solely an especially recent phenomenon, as the original Venom has very much the same results as its 2024 successor, with a 30% Tomatometer and 80% Popcornmeter to its own name.

Ultimately, the differences between the two Rotten Tomatoes scores for these releases underline why the Tomatometer and Popcornmeter are split out in the way they are in the first place. This not only allows viewers to access critic and audience reviews separately, but also look at the different scores to see how these two groups may have differently perceived or appreciated a specific release, which can prove both helpful in terms of deciding whether to watch a movie, and in understanding what its overall reception actually looks like.

Our Take On Captain America: Brave New Worlds' RT Audience Score Being The Same As The Marvels

Captain America: Brave New World Isn't Exactly Better Or Worse Than The Marvels

Critics and audiences can have similar reactions to Marvel projects, but their box office success can vary greatly due to myriad different factors, including release dates, delays, and audiences who don't voice their reactions online. While it's true that some projects are more successful than others across the board, no number can define an MCU installment completely accurately, both in terms of quality and in terms of popularity. Although Captain America: Brave New World's critics and audience reactions pale in comparison to previous Captain America installments, it cannot be described as a failure in any way.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

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