Tim Blake Nelson On Captain America 4 Reshoots & Viral Marvel ‘Theme Park’ Critiques

Is Tim Blake Nelson enjoying his time with Marvel? The star speaks on his reshoots for Captain America: Brave New World and the viral bashing of the MCU.

A lot of ink has been spilled about the reshoots for Captain America: Brave New World. MCU fans often see the practice as a dirty world, with early reports indicating that Marvel cut major characters from the final product (although these would later turn out to be false). Tim Blake Nelson joked about these reshoots in a recent interview, remarking that he felt like he shot the movie twice.

“Well, we’re done. I’ve shot it,” Nelson explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve actually shot it twice because I did it originally a year ago, and then we came back and redid a lot of it at the beginning of it this summer. Every single movie I do hopefully makes me better.”

Some are using this quote as proof that Marvel clearly made massive structural changes to Captain America: Brave New World during reshoots. However, Tim Blake Nelson was likely commenting about there being two distinct shooting blocks. This is especially since the project had a surprisingly sparse reshoot schedule for the MCU, landing at only 22 days and primarily focusing on adding new action sequences to the final product.

Tim Blake Nelson Responds To MCU Critiques

Another viral narrative around Marvel films like Captain America: Brave New World is that they’re simply ‘theme parks’ instead of actual films. This has been a sentiment echoed across the internet about the MCU, from directors like Martin Scorsese to actors like Jodie Foster. Tim Blake Nelson spoke about these criticisms in a separate interview, insisting that Marvel movies do hold a certain artistry to them.

“I couldn’t respect Martin Scorsese more, he’s his own genre, but I disagree with him when he derides Marvel,” Nelson explained in a chat with Variety. “I come down on the side of Marvel movies absolutely being cinema. They return us to being kids again. When they are really good, and they often are, you lose yourself in them.”

“Are they profound? Are they ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing,’ are they ‘Bicycle Thieves,’ ‘Schindler’s List’ or Kieślowski? No, but they aren’t aspiring to be. They are entertainment and there’s artistry involved in them. That’s my Marvel speech.” 

It’s good to hear that Tim Blake Nelson isn’t just cynically returning in Captain America: Brave New World for the check. Marvel and the MCU are often seen as singular entities driving toward a plan that was always there. However, the best things to come out of the studio often come from directors who are given free reign to express themselves, especially in a setting so wild and weird.

Captain America: Brave New World is currently slated to hit theaters on February 14, 2025. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!