We’re deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 now, and the fourth Captain America film is on its way. It will introduce Anthony Mackie’s Captain America for the first time on the big screen and hopefully leave off where his Disney+ series ended. After changing its name and adding another big star, Captain America 4 has finally wrapped filming and will be ready for theaters in about one year!
How We Got Here
So what happened to Steve Rogers, and how did Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson become Captain America? Originally the winged hero Falcon, Sam Wilson became Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019). Roger, valuing loyalty, passes on his shield and mantle to Wilson as his chosen and trusted successor after Falcon stood by him in multiple missions and battles.
Sam Wilson’s journey as Captain America continues in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier where he navigates the challenges and responsibilities that come with being Captain America. The series explores Sam Wilson’s evolution into this iconic role, addressing themes of race, identity, and the legacy left behind by Steve Rogers.
What Captain America: Brave New World is About
Marvel’s new addition to the Captain America series will be the first not starring Chis Evans as Steve Rogers, so what will it be about? In usual Marvel fashion, the plot has been kept pretty top secret. But at last year’s San Diego Comic Con, director Julias Onah discussed the film as a “paranoid thriller,” which is a departure from the genre of most of their big hero movies. That theme seems more aligned with the espionage and conspiracy in Marvel’s Secret Invasion show. So audiences may need to expect more mature content.
Notable actor Harrison Ford joined the cast as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, originally played by the late William Hurt. Ross and Sam Wilson have a history of clashing, but executive producer Nate Moore says that Wilson is “going to bring his own team to play.” Anthony Mackie expanded that Wilson and Ross have some sort of a friendship but that they do “bump heads.”
Why the Name Change
Before landing on Captain America: Brave New World, the film’s secondary title was New World Order. This raised a lot of backlash because of the real-life New World Order conspiracy theory that refers to a belief that a secretive, powerful group or organizations, often alleged to be globalists or elitists, are attempting to establish a totalitarian world government. They are said to manipulate world events, economies, and politics in pursuit of their agenda and are often linked to antisemitism.
While this has nothing to do with Captain America, Marvel didn’t want the association. Brave New World references Aldous Huxley’s famous novel about dystopia and suggests Sam Wilson’s Captain America will deal with distrust within governmental and Avengers-associated organizations.
Captain America: Brave New World will be released on Friday, July 26, 2024!