I’m not sure where I now stand on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  After the epic concluding chapters of Infinity War and Endgame, any further superhero adventure seemed, and continues to seem, superfluous to me, especially if it involves a multiverse of any sort.  However, life goes on, even for these fictitious savants and saviors, and there is money to be made in presenting those stories.

Julius Onah’s new story with the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), is a very topical political story of a controversial president trying to keep up with and control events that are outpacing most mere mortals.  Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for the late great William Hurt), has had a checkered past with the Avengers but wants to work with them to assure that the riches found within the Celestial Island (introduced in the Eternals film) are equitably distributed to all.  But can he be trusted, especially as he is being manipulated by a secret source?

The usual technological mumbo-jumbo and gigantic, kinetic action sequences fly by in this movie, but they seem emptier and less convincing without the presences of the familiar Avenger faces to convince us of their authenticity.  I particularly didn’t believe the sequences involving Sam and his young buddy Joaquin (Danny Ramirez) outflying missiles and remaining relatively unscathed by their detonations.  The globetrotting scenario was also farfetched in terms of its travel — it’s difficult to believe that any or all of the participants would not have been completely incapacitated by jet lag at some point.

What is truly interesting, however, are the political implications and explorations of this story.  Ross seems very Trumpian at the beginning, and I feared the movie was intending to become a political diatribe.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, Ross’s story arc becomes the backbone of an effort to do well, to fix mistakes of the past, to right one’s wrongs, and it is balanced by the opposite arc of Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), a character who has been wronged by the new president.  Ross’ efforts to do the right thing are a bit easier to accept because of Harrison Ford’s presence than William Hurt’s presence would have been (along with his history arguing with the Avengers — but that might have made this an even stronger story), and it is this path which largely redeems the movie in my eyes, even through the wild conclusion at the White House.  Another future Avenger for the team?  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  27 March 2025.