Warning: This story contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World.

Brave New World to be a palate cleanser — one that remembers and builds on the events of Marvel’s other recent features. The film does a serviceable job of establishing a new status quo, but it struggles to articulate how this Captain America is different from his predecessor.

MCU film, the solid but unexceptional "Deadpool & Wolverine," poked fun at this very scenario, with Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth joking that Marvel is "at a bit of a low point." Holding off all reactions to "Captain America: Brave New World" until just two days before the film's theatrical release did not look like a show of confidence from Marvel Studios.