CAPTAIN AMREICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Reportedly Plagued by Tension, A-List Egos, Reshoots, and Set Frustrations

It seems like Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World ended up being one of the most turbulent productions in the franchise’s history.

A new report from Vulture paints a picture of an expensive, chaotic shoot riddled with reshoots, negative test screenings, clashing personalities, and a reportedly difficult Harrison Ford.

The film, which sees Anthony Mackie take up the mantle of Captain America, originally wrapped principal photography in early 2023 under director Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox).

However, it returned for a 22-day shoot in Atlanta, with the reports describing the reshoots as a “course correction” after test screenings were deemed “disastrous.”

One anonymous crew member said: “I think everyone on the crew knew this is probably not going to be a good film… We had a lot of frustrations on set.”

Marvel’s attempt at a political thriller took an unexpected turn when certain elements of the story started mirroring real-world events a little too closely. The introduction of Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross/Red Hulk, reportedly “created uncomfortable political resonances” to Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the inclusion of Israeli actress Shira Haas as Sabra led to a swift course correction in her character’s background, moving her away from her comic book origins as a Mossad agent amid the Israel-Hamas war. They ended up making her a former Black Widow turned “high-ranking government U.S. official.”

A crew member said: “People are conspiracy theorists. Some people think the original title New World Order means ‘Jews run the world’ — and now there’s a war going on. It’s like, all these things that were not predicted [when Cap 4 was given the production green-light] were coming to fruition: Trump, the war in Gaza, the tension in America right now.”

Beyond the political minefield, Marvel made substantial changes to the villain lineup. The Boys actor Giancarlo Esposito was brought in late as Sidewinder, while WWE’s Seth Rollins was cut from the film as a member of the Serpent Society. This is a decision that flip-flopped multiple times.

“It was on, then it was off, then it was on again. That’s very expensive to do,” said a crew member, adding, “My co-workers who spent more time on Brave New World than I did said, ‘Yeah, this has been a really rough production.’”

Then there’s Ford, an 82-year-old legend of Star Wars and Indiana Jones fame, who reportedly didn’t make things any easier. While he’s known for his grumpy persona, one crew member described him as “one of the crankiest performers” they had ever worked with. “When Harrison was done, he was done. Everyone was trying to scramble to make him happy. That made for a very awkward work environment.”

A second source close to the production, however, pushed back against that claim, telling Vulture there was “no truth” to rumors of Ford being unusually difficult. The actor has been seen having fun on the press tour, even embracing his Red Hulk transformation at San Diego Comic-Con.

But according to the first crew member, Ford absolutely hated the motion capture process: “Basically, dealing with A-list egos was the issue. It was mainly just Harrison Ford. So that was a little disappointing.”

This isn not in line with previous reports from Weta visual effects supervisor Dan Cox, who shared a fun behind-the-scenes moment that highlights Ford’s enthusiasm in playing this role. Cox recounted:

“Lemme tell you, he was all in that morning. The last thing you want is to be the person that hurts Harrison Ford. At one point, I needed him [to land], and thought, ‘We can have the stunt guy do it.’

“He’s like, ‘No, no, no! I’ll do it.’ I put up an apple box that’s about two feet off the ground. I’m like, ‘I need you to jump down onto the ground and land as a Hulk.’

“He did it about a dozen times, and every single time, I held my breath! But he went all in.”

Marvel Studios isn’t new to reshoots, big-budget blockbusters almost always require them. But Brave New World’s behind-the-scenes drama has made it stand out in all the wrong ways.

Entire sequences were cut, millions of dollars were spent on fixing problems, and the film’s release date was pushed back from July 2024 to February 2025. The result led to an exhausted and exasperated cast and crew.

“At the end of the day, it was the most tense Marvel shoot I’ve ever worked on,” the crew member admitted. “Everyone kind of felt their buttholes tightening a little bit. It’s like, Ugh.”

Will Brave New World overcome these reported setbacks and deliver a worthy next chapter for Captain America? We’ll find out when it finally hits theaters on February 14, 2025.