“You may be Captain America, but you’re not Steve Rogers.”
President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross scorns Sam Wilson at a pivotal moment early in Captain America: Brave New World. Of course, that’s obvious on its face, but the rest of the movie goes to exciting lengths to prove why being a different Captain is exactly what the world needs right now in Marvel’s reboot of the character and the first with Anthony Mackie behind the shield. The mantle was passed to him way back in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and the ramifications of having a Black man as Captain America were explored in miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in which Wilson begins to accept the responsibility. Many of those themes are retreaded upon, for understandable reasons, wrapped around a propulsive political thriller that will have deep ramifications for the MCU.
The story revolves around two major events to impact the MCU. The first is General “Thunderbolt” Ross (played by Harrison Ford, taking over for the late William Hurt) becoming President of the United States. He’s basically President Thunderbolt Trump, in attitude and deed. The infamous Hulk-hater and foil of the superhero community who locked up Wilson and other Avengers during the whole Civil War event, Ross now wants to work with Cap in the spirit of patriotism. Ross is trying to broker a treaty with world leaders that will fairly distribute resources from the dead Celestial being (last seen in Eternals four years ago) resting in the ocean. That resource is the indestructible metal, adamantium, that X-Men fans know about quite as its what Wolverine’s bones are laced with. If you don’t know that going in, the movie doesn’t do the best job of explaining it.
Of course, when dealing with a finite natural resource, shit becomes an international incident real quick. Some adamantium gets stolen, the O.G. Captain America Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly, great to see him back), who rightfully hates the U.S. government, gets set up for an assassination attempt, a bunch of Secret Service get brainwashed, and Wilson must put his feud with Ross aside to expose a conspiracy inside the White House, joined by his right-hand-man Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez, another welcome return) who is settling in nicely as the new Falcon.
What will come as a surprise to many is how much Captain America: Brave New World is a Hulk movie, picking up on plot threads and characters from the 2008 film starring Edward Norton. That includes the return of Tim Blake Nelson as the gamma-powered Samuel Sterns aka Leader, who uses his big brain to cause maximum trouble for Wilson and Ross. There’s a lot of Hulk stuff here and at times it feels like Captain America is an extra in his own movie. Also, because so much relies on you remembering what happened sixteen years ago there are quite a few exposition dumps that can be a drag on the movie’s momentum.
But the drag isn’t long, and there is some really cool action. The vibe is closer to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, rooted in the paranoid political thrillers of the 1970s rather than the massive superhero spectacles of the Avengers movies. Giancarlo Esposito brings gravitas to the role of mercenary Sidewinder, who engages Wilson in a couple of nice shootouts. An aerial dogfight that finds Wilson and Torres engaging fighter jets from multiple nations features the undeniably slick moment of the hero surfing atop missiles like an extra from Blue Crush. The hand-to-hand isn’t as jaw-dropping impactful as the Russos but director Julius Onah is no slouch, either. He gives Wilson his own unique style of combat that combines his jet-powered mobility with hard hitting power.
And then there’s the moment that has been splashed in trailers and posters for months: the arrival of the Red Hulk. For those who might be unaware, I won’t spoil who is the Red Hulk, but his slow transformation is like the Marvel version of a Cronenberg body horror. The moment is built to with tension right from the beginning until we’re hotly anticipating the emergence of the Big Red Hulk Machine. Brave New World treats this moment like the epic it deserves to be, signalling the debut of a character fans have wanted for so long. The wait is worth it, as the ensuing battle that follows kicks ass, too.
Mackie fully settles into the role of Captain America here, and while there’s quite a bit of sermonizing from Wilson it’s for a reason. He’s a different guy than Steve Rogers, who is more likely to punch his way out of a predicament. Wilson is a counselor first and he always tries the path of non-violence before engaging. The character has also made peace with his decision to be Captain America, so we don’t have to deal with him agonizing over it as he did in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Mackie is as charismatic and suave as ever, but he gets to show his physicality here, too. The script could’ve done more to show his funny side, but most of the jokes are instead given to Ramirez, who pairs up with Mackie incredibly well.
Ford is great, too, but you knew that was going to be the case. His version of Ross has a lot more “get off my lawn” grumpy old man energy and it’s perfect. Also, I think Marvel has a real find on their hands with Shira Haas, who plays Ruth Bat-Seraph, an Israeli agent and former Black Widow now the head of Ross’ security. Bat-Seraph is the mutant character Sabra from the Marvel Comics, and a frequent ally of the X-Men. The MCU version is considerably different (no mutant powers…yet), but she immediately makes an impression and steals virtually every scene she’s in.
Captain America: Brave New World arrives at a politically divisive moment, and I have no doubt that the film will also prove polarizing. While some of what it introduces will prove relevant for a long time to come, the story itself feels small compared to the overlong Multiverse Saga fans have been complaining about for years. Marvel actually needs more character-focused stories like this because they make the massive team-ups special when they finally come back around. The closing credits hit us with a familiar promise: “Captain America Will Return”. It doesn’t say when or how, but Mackie has made Captain America his own with this movie, and the MCU is a more interesting place with him leading the charge.
Captain America: Brave New World opens on February 14th.
