Marvel began a new era with the release of Captain America: Brave New World (CABNW). While many mantles have officially and unofficially been passed since the end of Phase 3, this marked the first movie with the successor leading it. While the movie had its ups and downs, the one area that needs to be praised is Anthony Mackie’s performance as Sam Wilson. The cast did an exceptional job playing their individual roles, even in a movie with so much going on, but Anthony outshone everyone (as he should in his own movie.) Let’s talk about what worked and didn’t work in CABNW. 

Sam Wilson is Captain America

If it was questioned after the Falcon and Winter Soldier it shouldn’t be now: Sam is Captain America and he deserved the shield. Anthony Mackie delivered a solid performance and showed the struggles of not just being the new Captain America but of being Captain America in a brave new world. He juggled the responsibility of the shield, the Avengers, and duty to the President throughout the entirety of the film, struggling to know what the right move is and which to follow, similar to Steve’s struggle. Cap is a symbol that can mean many things but also one that people believe in differently. Showing a different side to Captain America after having Steve fulfill the role since the 1940s really drove home that last point. Sam brings a much different perspective to the shield and it will be quite the journey to follow Sam as he grows in the role.

The other important part of this story is Isaiah Bradley, who was first introduced back in TFAWS. Isaiah is a super soldier and while we saw more of his past story in TFAWS, it was fitting to have him return in this film and be a part of telling Sam’s larger story as well. Isaiah, who has a much darker view of the U.S. government, is an interesting dichotomy to Sam’s character. While this isn’t to say Sam can’t admit to the faults of the government (let’s be real, Ross turned him into a fugitive), Sam’s background both as a veteran and the ‘success’ of his time as Falcon and subsequently Captain America so far allows him to experience less of the struggle that Isaiah went through for relatively some of the same things. Isaiah, beyond his use as a plot device to get Sam involved in the story from a personal perspective, kept Sam grounded as Captain America and ensured the more critical themes behind a black man becoming Captain America in today’s age were explored.

The Sequal to The Incredible Hulk

The story began to unravel when it came to the actual plot, which seemed to entail a more prominent focus on the Hulk-related characters. In short, the movie was Sam Wilson actively trying to figure out the conflict behind what was going on between the Leader and President Ross, a side effect of a 17-year-old situation. Marvel did a solid job explaining how the two are even more integrated than The Incredible Hulk would have led the audience to believe, but it just wasn’t a Captain America problem exactly. It seemed to push out the villain that could have been Cap’s problem, aka Sidewinder, to hold him for a future villain spot rather than actually use him in a significant role here. Had Marvel instead used this movie solely as a Captain America film, Sidewinder could have played the main villain role or still been a puppet to someone like the Powerbroker, aka Sharon Carter who we also last seen in TFAWS. Sidewinder and Sharon would have fit Sam’s Cap and just a Cap story, in general, better than knocking Sam out of the way to explain a beef that leads to Red Hulk appearing.

Yet if we are to focus on the Hulk of it all, if you will, then yes this part of the movie was quite good. As mentioned, Marvel did a great job making the Leader Ross’ problem and filling in the hole of his 17-year absence by letting us know Ross was up to no good and took advantage of his quite literal big brain. It set the Leader up for a personal vendetta against Ross that wouldn’t have quite made the same amount of sense had Marvel tried to solely go off the events of The Incredible Hulk. And while it was assumed the Leader would have to play a role in this movie because of Ross turning into Red Hulk, the way it was done was exceptionally subtle, with the science aspect actually taking a back seat due to the decision to make the Leader the main villain. It made the Leader a significant villain in terms of psychological warfare, as he managed to pull all the right strings that nearly led to a World War, all to expose Ross as what the Leader made him in the name of revenge.

Even though Marvel used this movie to tell a Hulk sequel, it also made sure not to remove a single playing card from the deck. Both the Leader and Ross are now being held at the Raft, which Team Cap fans are quite familiar with. Leaving both of these characters on hand does appear to open the door for something related to the Hulk to come in the future, although speculation of what, is seemingly met with question marks. With Secret Wars coming around the corner and being followed then by the mutants, the Hulk family/related characters only seem to be growing, but without a clear and defined future. The Leader may play a bigger villainous role in the future and Ross might just turn over a new leaf after all, even as Red Hulk but it’s all unclear as not a single thing for the Hulk or the related characters is slated for the future. Unfortunately, this will be a situation in which we will have to wait and see if Marvel will play it out, or it will end up like other loose threads that never really get an answer.

Adamantium

The other big angle of CABNW was the discussion of Adamantium, specifically from the Celestial that is currently sitting half emerged from the Earth. After 4 years of waiting, and only a small Easter Egg in She-Hulk, something finally picked up the huge gaping plotline that was left after the conclusion of Eternals. Quite frankly, it was a genius move on Marvel’s part to use a Captain America film to tell this story, as Cap is one of the only current heroes in the MCU that does tie so heavily into the MCU political landscape. There was very little room to tell the Adamantium story without discussing how it would initially unfold between nations in the MCU. As a new and strong element, there is no surprise that powerful governments would all want to stake a claim to it and it is going to be interesting to see how this storyline evolves from this movie to possibly eventually telling the story of somebody like Wolverine.

The skirmish over the Adamantium between America and Japan was one of the more interesting parts of the movie. It could’ve worked as a final battle had the focus remained more on Adamantium and the landscape around it. It gave a grounded focus that Marvel has largely been lacking, explaining a huge event in the most modern-day way. Sam’s flight sequences, along with the intense moment with Joaquin dropping from the sky gave the much-needed action and emotional pull that had audiences on the edge of their seat. Additionally, had a war erupted, the effects on the bigger MCU would have been an interesting twist. Unfortunately, with the future and what is coming, this is simply not something Marvel could worry about at this time. However, it is important to note that it seems Japan is the country that ended up with the Adamantium, meaning possibly a direct line to the Silver Samurai.

Looking Ahead After CABNW

Like any good Marvel movie, CABNW did a great job at not only standing on its own but also tying into and opening doors for other Marvel projects. Mentioned above were the most glaring continuations, with plots and characters from The Incredible Hulk and Eternals, along with TFAWS being furthered. Looking ahead, CABNW also gave some direction on future projects as well.

The first and most obvious is the next Avengers film, no surprise as even the trailers revealed that Ross wanted Sam to reassemble the Avengers. It also has been rumored that Sam would be a leader, if not the leader of the next Avengers team. With Ross planting the seed for Sam to ‘get the gang back together’, it seems that this may be confirming that Sam will, in fact, play a prominent leadership role in the next group of Avengers.

CABNW also provided insight into Marvel’s next movie premiere, the Thunderbolts. Bucky Barnes made a cameo appearance, continuing to solidify his spot in every Captain America movie so far. While brief, it was revealed that Bucky is currently a congressman, filling in some of the questions that the Thunderbolts trailers opened regarding what exactly Bucky’s current role is. How a congressman who is determined to stop fighting ends up being the one to assemble a team of complete misfits to fight a somewhat still unknown villain is unclear, other than the fact that we know Valentina is involved.

Lastly and likely the one most people cared about was the end credit, in which the Leader gives a hint to the bigger Multiversal issues we’ve seen happening in some of your magical and cosmic pieces of content. While it felt a little strange to have it thrown in at the end of such a jam-packed movie, the warning to Sam about what is coming will likely be the impetus to having Sam actually reassemble the Avengers. It also does allow our first ground-level character to be somewhat brought into the fold. As mentioned before, Sam is rumored to lead the Avengers but also Doomsday and Secret Wars are barreling towards us and the characters in the MCU. With very few projects slated that are going to directly reference the Multiverse, even small tidbits like this allow for the path to the final two installments of the Multiverse Saga to not seem so guarded. It will be intriguing to see if Marvel gives some sort of clue in the Thunderbolts in May as well.

Image: “Captain America: Brave New World”, Chris Smith, BGR