A McDonald's Commercial Is Leaving Marvel Fans Confused (For A Good Reason)

Promotional tie-ins are commonplace for big blockbusters; however, these often come around the time a movie gets released. As such, it's understandable Marvel fans were confused upon seeing a new McDonald's Happy Meal commercial where a kid is ecstatic to receive a Captain America (Anthony Mackie) toy. He happily spouts off fun facts about the character to anyone who will listen. It's extremely cute but also a bit odd considering this ad is running now when "Captain America: Brave New World" won't come out until February 14, 2025. 

Of course, this is due to the fact that "Captain America 4" was supposed to come out in May 2024. The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike delayed filming for numerous projects, and there were rumors the new Marvel film required extensive reshoots after a disastrous test screening. It appears McDonald's has released the toys anyway, which seems a bit odd, but this could simply be due to contracts.

The promotion has left many fans confused on one Reddit thread, but u/deviousmajik has offered a reasonable explanation: "It was supposed to be out this year and the tie-in deals were already in place when it got moved," they wrote. "Same thing happened to The Marvels last year when tie-ins came out six months before the movie, which got pushed back from summer to the holidays." With contracts in place, McDonald's may already have different toys lined up for February 2025, meaning "Captain America: Brave New World" gets some incredibly advanced promotion for the time being. 

Hopefully, the premature promotion doesn't impact the box office figures for "Captain America: Brave New World." One would imagine there will be other marketing strategies to get the word out, but perhaps the McDonald's toys coming out now will aid the movie. After all, kids may still have their Cap toys sitting on a shelf to remind them to actually see the film when it comes out on February 14, 2025. But there's another impact of having such toys come out so soon. Namely, some details of the film are getting spoiled vastly ahead of time. 

The biggest spoiler is that Thunderbolt Ross, to be played by Harrison Ford, will indeed transform into Red Hulk in the movie. Part of the McDonald's Happy Meal collection for this movie outright has Red Hulk as an option, so before a trailer even comes out, we know who a major villain is going to be. Even the commercial might have a spoiler, as a little girl tells the main boy after he points out the new Falcon, played by Danny Ramirez, "That's who Sam Wilson gave his EXO-7 wings to," she says. It was always a safe bet that Joaquin Torres, first introduced on "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," would become the new Falcon, and it appears he'll have the same wings Sam had previously.

Granted, that's a minor detail, and it was always kind of a foregone conclusion Thunderbolt would turn into Red Hulk. "Captain America: Brave New World" is bound to have some surprises still in store because the Red Hulk toy indicates that he was always supposed to be revealed before the movie came out (just not this early).