What to Know Before Captain America: Brave New World

By Melody McCune

It’s been too long since we’ve had a Captain America?film in theaters (nine years, to be exact). Thankfully, that’ll change soon when the franchise’s next iteration, Captain America: Brave New World, soars onto the big screen. It’s the first Marvel feature film for Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as Captain America, and we will see him fully acknowledged as the titular iconic hero.

To celebrate Cap returning to theaters (while soaring on cool wings, no less), here’s a primer to get you up to speed before watching the MCU’s hottest (and Red Hulk-iest) film this winter.

The Plot

The synopsis for Brave New World is as follows: “Anthony Mackie returns as the high-flying hero Sam Wilson, who’s officially taken up the mantle of Captain America. After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.”

Based on the various teasers and clips over the past few weeks, we can expect the reappearance of Tiamut, one of the Celestials. In 2021’s Eternals, the titular heroes stopped Tiamut’s Emergence after discovering it would destroy Earth. Sersi turned Tiamut to stone. Obviously, seeing a giant alien entity protruding from the ocean causes mass confusion for the global populace. We last heard about Tiamut in 2022’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

The Celestial Tiamut

Now, Tiamut is made of Adamantium, which definitively plays a role in Brave New World’s narrative. In one clip, President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross talks about Adamantium changing the game for humanity. War is on the horizon, and global superpowers will undoubtedly battle over sourcing Adamantium from Tiamut and divvying up this precious, costly resource.

Another significant plot point is Ross asking Sam to reassemble the Avengers. Earth needs its mightiest heroes now more than ever. In another clip, Sam reminds Ross that his introducing the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War caused the division and eventual dissolving of the Avengers. Of course, the Sokovia Accords are repealed by 2025, but now Sam must essentially start from scratch in re-forming the team.

We’ll also see Sam square off against Ross once he becomes Red Hulk. Real talk: I didn’t know I needed to see Harrison Ford turning into a big, angry red dude, but here we are.

The Cast, Crew, and Characters

Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, Rosa Salazar as Rachel Leighton/Diamondback, Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph/Sabra, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns/The Leader, Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, and Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/Red Hulk.

On the crew front, Julius Onah directs from a screenplay/story by Malcolm Spellman, Rob Edwards, Dalan Musson, Peter Glanz, as well as Onah. Jack Kirby and Joe Simon created Captain America, who first appeared in the issue Captain America Comics #1 on December 20, 1940.

You might already be familiar with characters like the Rosses, perhaps even Joaquin Torres and Isaiah Bradley, but Rachel Leighton, Sidewinder, and Ruth Bat-Seraph are new to the MCU. Leighton is also known as Diamondback and is a member of the Serpent Society. She has ties to Taskmaster. Diamondback excels at hand-to-hand combat and gymnastics and boasts superhuman strength, speed, and stamina.

There are a handful of characters with the Sidewinder moniker, but Brave New World is presumably adopting the Seth Voelker version for Esposito’s character. Voelker founded the Serpent Society, which connects him to Diamondback. Sidewinder is skilled in combat and has tactical expertise.

Bat-Seraph is also known as Sabra. Sabra is a mutant in the comics and a superhuman agent of Mossad. She’s also a former Black Widow, working high up in Ross’s presidential cabinet. As for her abilities, she possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, and regeneration.

Context from Previous MCU Films

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Listen, I get it — who has time to rewatch everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before moseying on over to the theater to watch Brave New World? (Well, unless you’re my brother, but he started his binge-watch weeks ago.) While it never ceases to amaze me how intricately connected everything is in the MCU, you can get away with rewatching only a few pieces of media to prep for this movie.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which is still one of my top five favorite Marvel flicks to this day) introduces Sam Wilson and his Falcon alias to the world. Released in 2014, The Winter Soldier sees Steve Rogers/Captain America, Sam, and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow combat Hydra after the nefarious organization infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sam and Steve meet while running through Washington, D.C. Steve yells, “On your left” to Sam as he passes him. Sam tells Steve the same thing in Avengers: Endgame, as the portals open up to reveal those previously killed by Thanos in the Blip. Steve understands this reference.

Endgame also sees an older Steve Rogers pass the Captain America torch to Sam, handing him the famous shield.

The Incredible Hulk

If you’re itching for a reminder of Thunderbolt Ross’s on-screen origins, look no further than his introduction in The Incredible Hulk. No, not the 2003 Hulk film with Eric Bana in the titular role, but the 2008 movie with Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. Betty Ross is also in this one, as is Samuel Sterns. When we meet Ross, he’s a general, and his daughter Betty is dating Bruce. This was before Bruce turned into Mark Ruffalo.

Ross is on the ground floor of the Avengers assembling, with one scene in the flick featuring him with Tony Stark as the latter breaks the news. The character goes on to appear in Civil War, where he’s now the Secretary of State, and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Of course, he was portrayed by the late great William Hurt before Ford took over the role.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Admittedly, watching Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier might be the singularly most important thing to watch to prepare for Brave New World. The six-episode miniseries premiered in 2021 and focuses on Sam and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier navigating a new threat as the U.S. government appoints John Walker as the next Captain America (despite Steve already giving Sam his blessing).

Sam and Bucky also take on the Flag Smashers, a group enhanced courtesy of the Super Soldier Serum whose mission is to establish the old-world order. Why? Because they believe Earth was better during the Blip.

After defeating the Flag Smashers and putting Walker in his place (although Valentina Allegra de Fontaine enlists him to join a different kind of group that’ll get their screen debut in a few months – more on Thunderbolts* later), Sam finally assumes the Captain America mantle. He even gets a pretty badass new suit while Joaquin becomes the new Falcon.

What are you most excited to see in Captain America: Brave New World?

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