Captain America: Brave New World (English)
That Captain America: Brave New World went through significant reshoots is almost immediately apparent. Here’s a story with so much at stake: the first time a Black Captain America (Anthony Mackie) hits the big screens. What can that mean for him, in a country as racialised as the US? Within his fictionalised world, how will America answer for how it has abused Black superheroes in the past? What kind of politics can you represent when one of the villains is the US President with the same abilities as the Hulk, but none of his empathy? You could tell a powerful story about nationhood, Black talent, identity, and justice. Before you roll your eyes and say that’s too much to ask of a Marvel movie, remember director Ryan Coogler already accomplished all this in the two Black Panther films.
Which brings us back to the reshoots that have instead given us a badly stitched together, uneven plot with dubious politics. Captain America: Brave New World, directed by Nigerian-American Julius Onah, also stars Israeli actor Shira Haas as Sabra, a Zionist version of Captain America. In the comics, Sabra is outfitted in the Israeli flag and fights offensively stereotyped Arab-origin villains. Even Sabra’s name references a violent history: the 1982 slaughter of thousands of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila regions of Lebanon.
Her inclusion in the movie drew widespread calls for boycotts ahead of the film’s release, in the midst of several thousands of more Palestinians being killed in the last year by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Haas has reportedly served in the IDF in the past, despite being granted medical exemption from the country’s compulsory conscription in the military. The anger over her casting and the inclusion of Sabra’s character forced Disney, Marvel Entertainment’s parent company, to carry out extensive reshoots. These reshoots are painfully obvious in how last-minute the dialogues and storyline feel, while not doing enough to distance itself from the brutal comic book origins of Sabra.
In Brave New World, Sam Wilson – aka the new Captain America – is already confused by what it means to be Black and wear a superhero outfit in the red and blue stripes of the US flag. This inner conflict was first set up in the series The Falcon and the Winter Solider (2021). For all the criticism the series received, it asked many of the questions this film barely touches on.
Sam now finds himself doing exactly what he has spent the last few Avengers movies refusing to do – come under the direct authority of the US government. But he still truly believes that he has a chance to do some good in the world. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, who is secretly the Red Hulk and was last seen harassing the Avengers with bureaucratic redtapism (to put it mildly), is now the President of the US. Many wondered ahead of the release if the film was a commentary on the Donald Trump era of US presidencies.
Thaddeus, a decorated ‘war hero’ was first introduced on screen in the Incredible Hulk (2008) — a movie you should re-visit if you plan to watch Brave New World. He’s been played by various actors over the years, but is now brought to life by a very fitting Harrison Ford.
Thaddeus and Sam have always distrusted each other. The tension between them simmers under all their interactions in Brave New World, until Thaddeus’ secrets have the potential to put several countries in danger. It’s at this point that the film is hit by another corporate decision. In 2019, Disney bought the assets of 21st Century Fox, the production company that had previously owned the rights to several Marvel comic book characters, including the X-Men and the fictional metal adamantium. This essentially means that Disney now has two non-existent metals that are considered indestructible to play with — vibranium that Wakanda has near monopoly over and its competitor, adamantium.
Brave New World is set up around the premise of securing an US alliance with Japan, France, and India to mine adamantium. Yes, before you ask, there’s a fleeting scene featuring a look-alike of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a heated conversation with Thaddeus.
But here’s another interesting aspect that the film fails to explore. The Black Panther movies have unfailingly talked about vibranium within the real world setting of how African nations are mined for their precious metals and minerals, while leaving behind environmental and racial devastation. Adamantium has so far primarily been known to Marvel fans as the metal X-Men character Wolverine’s claws are made of. None of these references make it into the movie in any impactful manner.
It’s also hard to care about Brave New World’s flimsy stakes. A shadowy figure is trying to stop the alliance. But the film suffers from the same factor other recent Marvel movies and series have suffered from – one-dimensional antagonists who don’t really convince you that they are any kind of threat in the league of Thanos (Josh Brolin) or Killmonger (Michael B Jordan).
Meanwhile, Mackie gives his heart to his role. He’s played Sam Wilson since the character was first introduced as a sidekick to the original Captain America, alias Steve Rogers, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Sam has gone from providing occasional comic relief to becoming Steve’s handpicked successor. Mackie embodies Sam’s earnestness, the complexity of being Captain America while knowing fully well how his country treats Black people, and a sometimes baffling stubbornness to see the good in those everyone else has given up on.
It was the same stubbornness that was the soul of The Falcon and the Winter Solider. The series picked up where Avengers: Endgame (2019) left off. In keeping with Marvel’s trend, the series is a key link to Brave New World. Steve Rogers has passed on his vibranium shield to Sam and retired. Sam looks up to Steve, but doesn’t feel the identity of Captain America quite fits him. He hands over the shield to the US government. They put it in the hands of an ex-military white man, who turns out to be just power hungry and nothing like Steve. The series ended with Sam relinquishing his status as the Falcon – an airborne superhero with mechanised wings – and claiming his place as the new Captain America.
The series also introduced Isaiah Bradley as a shocking and long buried secret. He is a Black man who was in the US Army during World War 2. Isaiah, like Steve, was given the serum that made both of them super soldiers at the time. But while Steve went on to become an American icon, Isaiah was charged in false cases, imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on. Since the serum grants long life, superhuman strength, and extensive healing abilities, Isaiah is still very much around. He’s understandably angry, bitter, and mistrustful of powerful white men in government. It should be noted that Isaiah was perceived as a symbol of real-life racist medical experiments conducted on Black people, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Studies.
Isaiah was nothing short of a reckoning for the Captain America myth. His role in Brave New World will, however, have little impact on viewers who have not also watched the series. And even then, it’s the strength of his character in the series that you have to consciously remind yourself of while watching Brave New World, because the movie offers little more than superficial tokenism to honour him.
It’s truly tragic how much potential Brave New World simply squanders. It is even more heartbreaking, because despite the film’s overwhelming flaws, Mackie does everything he can to bring us a side of Sam not seen before on the big screen.
There’s a moving scene when his protégé, Joaquin Torres (an endearing Danny Ramirez), asks how he’s always so good at what he does. Sam responds with a truth universal to marginalised communities: he’s afraid to fail, because there’s so many like him waiting for a seat at the table. How could he let them all down? But then, why can’t he just be himself?
To add to those questions, why couldn’t Brave New World have been just about Sam? Why insert into the horrific lived experiences of Black people in America an attempt to whitewash Israel’s occupation of Palestine? And why on earth is the film named after a term for the US – Brave New World – so entrenched in the history of colonialism and land-grabbing from indigenous communities?