Column Superhero Movie Rewatch “You’re not Steve Rogers!” — Captain America: Brave New World It’s not perfect, but this movie deserved better than its lukewarm reception. By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on November 20, 2025 Screenshot: Sony Pictures. Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Sony Pictures. From August 2017 – January 2020, Keith R.A. DeCandido took a weekly look at every live-action movie based on a superhero comic that had been made to date in the Superhero Movie Rewatch. He’s periodically revisited the feature to look back at new releases, as well as a few he missed the first time through. After the elderly, time-displaced Steve Rogers bequeathed his shield to Sam Wilson at the end of Avengers: Endgame, the question was how they would proceed with Captain America movies, which had been among the most successful of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was further complicated by the Disney+ TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which had already been announced before Endgame’s release. While that TV series had some issues with its overall plot, it did an excellent job of showing how Wilson simply taking over the mantle of Captain America is far more complicated for a Black man in the twenty-first century than it was for a blond-haired blue-eyed white man in the mid-twentieth. But that series ended with Wilson firmly in place as the new Cap, which nicely set things up for the fourth Cap movie, and the first not to feature Chris Evans. Originally titled New World Order and intended for release in 2024, some reshoots and the writers and actors strikes of 2023 wound up delaying the release until early 2025, with the title changed to the less provocative Brave New World. The movie had three sets of writers, with Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson coming over from TF&TWS to write a script, apparently either a rewrite or a supplanting of Rob Edwards, who was the original writer on the film, and who still got story and screenplay credit. After Julius Onah was brought on to direct, he and Peter Glanz did a rewrite of their own. The notion of the erstwhile Falcon taking over as Cap has its origins in the comics, with Rogers having been aged in Dimension Z and bequeathing the shield to Wilson in 2014’s Captain America Vol. 7 #25 by Rick Remender, Stuart Immonen, & Carlos Pacheco. (For more on Sam Wilson’s history in the comics, check out this piece your humble rewatcher did for this site prior to the debut of TF&TWS.) This movie also returns Thaddeus Ross to the MCU, now President of the United States, and follows the comics’ transformation of the Hulk’s long-time nemesis into the Red Hulk, which happened in the Hulk comic series that debuted in 2008 by Jeph Loeb & Ed McGuinness (though the fact that the Red Hulk was Ross was not revealed at first). With William Hurt having died, the role is taken over by Harrison Ford, who apparently requested the role without even seeing a script because he genuinely wanted to be a part of the MCU. Also back in this movie is Samuel Sterns, whose transformation into the Leader was foreshadowed at the end of The Incredible Hulk, which finally comes to pass in this movie, though he’s never referred to by the supervillain name. Introduced in the comics in 1964’s Tales to Astonish #62 by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, Sterns was a manual laborer who never finished high school, but after being exposed to gamma radiation was transformed into a super-genius. He’s been one of the Hulk’s primary antagonists for pretty much the entire six decades since he was created. We’ve also got two characters introduced in the MCU in TF&TWS, both from the comics. Joaquin Torres took over as the Falcon when Wilson became Cap, first appearing in Captain America: Sam Wilson #1 by Nick Spencer & Daniel Acuña in 2015 as a human artificially mutated with the DNA of Falcon’s bird Redwing to become a sort of human/bird hybrid; the MCU version is not superpowered—Torres is an Air Force officer who now wears the Falcon’s old suit. Isaiah Bradley was established in the 2002 miniseries Truth: Red, White, and Black by Robert Morales & Kyle Baker. In the comics, the super-soldier serum was originally tested on several Black men, of whom Bradley was the only survivor, before it was used on Rogers. In TF&TWS, it was reversed: several Black men were experimented on after Rogers went down in the Arctic in Captain America: The First Avenger. Bradley was the only survivor, and he was put in prison when he rescued some soldiers against orders. In addition, the film’s plot revolves around the partial emergence of the Celestial Tiamut in the Indian Ocean at the end of Eternals. Introduced in this movie are the mercenary group SERPENT and another graduate of the Red Room that created the Black Widows, Ruth Bat-Seraph, respectively versions of the comics’ Serpent Society and the Israeli superhero Sabra. Early drafts of the film had SERPENT actually being the Serpent Society from the comics—introduced as the Serpent Squad in 1973’s Captain America #163 by Steve Englehart & Sal Buscema, changed to the Serpent Society in 1985’s Captain America #310 by Mark Gruenwald & Paul Neary—with several snake-themed villains teaming up. Later drafts boiled it down to just Sidewinder—the leader of several iterations of the Society—whose snake-themed costume was eschewed for more standard body armor, the organization simplified to a band of mercenaries. Sabra was introduced in The Incredible Hulk #256 in 1981 by Bill Mantlo & Buscema, intended to be, in essence, the Israeli Captain America. The character’s inclusion in this movie was met with controversy, and the role was changed significantly to that of an Israeli-born woman who was trained in the Red Room, who now works as security advisor to President Ross, thus avoiding any potential references to current events in the Middle East. Back from The Falcon & The Winter Soldier’s first season are Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Carl Lumbly as Bradley, Danny Ramirez as the Falcon, and Sebastian Stan in a brief cameo as the Winter Soldier. Back from Black Widow is the character of Ross, now played by Ford. Back from The Incredible Hulk are Tim Blake Nelson as Sterns and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. New to this film are Shira Haas as Bat-Seraph, Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, Xosha Roquemore as Leila Taylor (a Secret Service agent, based on a love interest of Wilson’s from the comics), Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Copperhead (another Serpent Society member simplified into a mercenary from SERPENT), Takehiro Hira as Japanese Prime Minister Ozaki, and William Mark McCullough as Dunphy, the leader of a SEAL team that provides support for Cap. Stan will next appear in Thunderbolts*. Mackie and Ramirez are both set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. Captain America: Brave New WorldWritten by Rob Edwards and Malcolm Spellman & Dalan Musson and Julius Onah & Peter GlanzDirected by Julius OnahProduced by Kevin Feige, Nate MooreOriginal release date: February 14, 2025 “Let’s get this over with, I got shit to do today” Screenshot: Sony Pictures. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has been elected president of the United States. In his acceptance speech, he harps on the word “together,” which has apparently been his campaign slogan, hoping to bring people together in the wake of the Blip and the emergence of the Celestial in the Indian Ocean. That Celestial has provided an impressive cache of an unbreakable metal called adamantium. Five months later, a sample of refined adamantium has been stolen from the Japanese by the mercenary group SERPENT, who is planning to sell it to a buyer in Mexico. Captain America, backed up by a SEAL team and eventually also by Joaquin Torres in his Falcon suit, is sent to retrieve it, and to rescue the hostages SERPENT’s leader Sidewinder has taken. They’re successful, with only Sidewinder getting away. The buyer never showed. Returning to the States, Falcon is bugging Cap for more training, so Cap brings him to Baltimore to meet Isaiah Bradley. While there, Cap gets a call from the White House: He and Torres are invited to an event there. Cap only agrees if Bradley is also included in the invitation. Bradley is reluctant to accept, especially given Ross’ history. Cap agrees with his concerns—Ross hunted him, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff for years between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War—but he needs to work with Ross, and he insists that Bradley come along. The trio are taken in a limo, and also take some selfies as they enter. Cap is immediately whisked to the Oval Office to talk to Ross, who wants Cap to form a new Avengers team. Given that Ross’ pushing of the Sokovia Accords was a big part of what broke the Avengers, Cap is skeptical. Ross then delivers a presentation on adamantium. He’s been working with other nations on a treaty to control and regulate its production and distribution. In the middle of his talk, several phones start playing “Mr. Blue” by the Fleetwoods, after which Bradley and five others—all military, law-enforcement, or Secret Service—start firing on people in the room. The other five are taken into custody in short order, but Bradley is able to get away. Cap gives chase, but when he catches up to him in Lafayette Square, Bradley is confused with no memory of what happened. He doesn’t want to be taken into custody, but Cap convinces him that running would be worse. Cap barges into the Situation Room to ask that he be allowed to investigate what’s happening, but Ross has his security advisor, Ruth Bat-Seraph, on it. It’s a conflict of interest for Cap, and Ross tells him to stay out of it. He also rescinds his Avengers idea, and basically tells Cap to go screw himself. Cap visits Bradley in prison, promising to clear him. While driving home, Cap asks Falcon to dig into Bat-Seraph. Then he’s ambushed by Sidewinder. Cap manages to take him out, and Sidewinder is arrested, saying only that he found the buyer and the buyer sent him after Cap. Sidewinder had called the buyer to mistakenly inform him that Cap was dead (he in truth bailed out of the SUV before Sidewinder blew it up). Cap brings the phone to his headquarters, where Falcon is able to trace his last call to Camp Echo One, an Army base in the middle of nowhere. In addition, footage from the White House security cameras shows that Bradley and at least one of the other would-be assassins had flashing lights sent to their phones before the attack. Bat-Seraph sees the same thing when she looks at the footage. Ross is struggling to hold his international coalition together after the shooting at the White House. Most concerning is that Japan has pulled out. Ross then calls one of the guards at Camp Echo One, who assures him that the prisoner is safely tucked away and that he’s looking right at him. We then see that the guard isn’t actually looking at anyone… At the prison where Bradley and the other five would-be assassins are being held, one of the guards hears “Mr. Blue” and immediately shoots the other five prisoners. Before he can kill Bradley, Bat-Seraph takes him down. Cap and Falcon head to Camp Echo One, using the Redwing drones to sneak past the guards. Once they get into the basement they find an empty prison cell, a fully stocked laboratory, and a computer. Falcon is able to determine that whoever has this lab has figured out a way to use mind control on people. There’s also full medical data on Ross, as well as some pills that are earmarked for the president. Right after Falcon digs up some video of him giving a lecture at a university, the prisoner reveals himself to be Samuel Sterns. He’s now green-skinned and with a mutated head. Ross has kept him prisoner here for eighteen years, ever since he was arrested following the Hulk and Abomination’s rampage through Harlem. He’s been helping Ross, but Ross promised to free him when he became commander-in-chief, a promise he has yet to fulfill after five months in office. Sterns is controlling the guards and they attack. Cap and Falcon—with the aid of Bat-Seraph, who was sent there to retrieve Cap and Falcon—take out the mind-controlled guards. But Sterns is now in the wind. Sterns calls Ross—who is on Air Force One en route to meet with Ozaki in Japan to get him back on board—to taunt him. Some FBI agents show up to arrest Cap and the Falcon, but then a radio plays “Mr. Blue” and the FBI instead tries to kill them. They barely get away, heading to the facility where Sidewinder is being held. Falcon comes up with a way to block the mind control, but he isn’t sure it’ll work on anyone who’s already been programmed. He plays “Mr. Blue” to make sure none of the folks at the prison are programmed. Cap then meets with Sidewinder, who says that Sterns wants revenge on Ross. He then gives the pills to Dunphy, who says he has a guy who can test the pills to see what they do. Ross meets with Ozaki, and it doesn’t go well, as Japan has intelligence that the U.S. stole the adamantium. Ross denies it, and points out that he wouldn’t have sent Captain America to retrieve it if he stole it. Ozaki doesn’t believe him. Japan then moves ships into the Indian Ocean to take possession of Celestial Island. Ross has the Navy respond in kind. Cap and the Falcon fly to the Indian Ocean to meet with Ross and try to help de-escalate the situation. In private, Ross admits to everything Sterns accused him of, adding that he had been dying. Sterns was able to cure him of the heart problems that were killing him. He also used Sterns’ intellect to further his own career, helping him rise to Secretary of State and then to the presidency. He also mentions his daughter Betty, who hasn’t spoken to him since Harlem, and waxes nostalgic about taking her for a walk amidst the cherry blossoms. Two American fighter pilots hear “Mr. Blue” over their radios and start firing on the Japanese. Cap and the Falcon try to bring the two rogue fighters down without any more bloodshed, at which they are generally successful, though Falcon is badly hurt. While this is going on, Sterns calls Ross and tries to goad him into losing his temper. But he’s interrupted by the news that the Japanese are standing down before Sterns can finish the job, to his irritation. Sterns also kills Dunphy before he can reveal what his guy’s test of the pills revealed. Cap visits Falcon in the hospital, where he’s joined by Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier—who is apparently running for Congress. Cap is feeling adrift and like he isn’t worthy of the shield—especially since, unlike Rogers and Bucky, he isn’t super-powered—but Bucky gives him a pep talk. When he leaves the hospital, Cap is confronted by Sterns, who is turning himself in. His endgame was to humiliate Ross in the Indian Ocean, but Cap’s victory there stymied him. So he’s moved on to Plan B. He tells Cap that the pills he gave Ross didn’t just cure his heart problems, they’re also infused with a lot of gamma radiation. Sterns is arrested, and Cap heads to the White House, where Ross is giving a press conference saying that the Celestial Island Treaty is back on. However, it’s interrupted by the speakers playing the contents of Ross and Sterns’ most recent phone conversation, which is damning. The Secret Service tries to take Ross away, but he loses his temper— —and starts to transform. He grows in height and musculature, his skin turns red, and he stands revealed as a Hulk—albeit a red one. Cap arrives, and they fight, trashing the White House. Cap leads the Hulk away from there, radioing Bat-Seraph to evacuate the Hains Point Loop Trail. When they arrive, Cap tries to remind Ross of his visits there with Betty to see the cherry blossoms. One huge fight later, Ross calms down enough to revert to his normal self, though the park is pretty well trashed, as are Cap’s wings. Bradley is exonerated, and Cap greets him upon his release. Then he visits Falcon in the hospital, the two of them discussing the possibility of restarting the Avengers. And finally, Cap visits the Raft (where Ross had previously imprisoned Sam and others in Captain America: Civil War). First he sees Ross, before leaving him with Ross’ other surprise visitor: Betty. While father and daughter catch up, Cap talks to Sterns, who says that there’s something bad coming. Screenshot: Sony Pictures. “Should’ve taken that serum, Bucky’s full of shit” This film was lukewarmly received, and my first instinct is to say that I don’t understand why, as I really enjoyed it. But I do understand why, and watching live-action superhero movies for all these years has made me come to a conclusion about these movies. The audiences, for the most part, are much less interested in a standard, run-of-the-mill, everyday superhero story. It’s telling that there’s been precisely one Avengers movie that’s actually been about the Avengers being the world’s greatest superhero team: Age of Ultron, the least well-liked one. It’s not a universal thing, but particularly in the MCU, the storyline that would be the next issue of the comic book is not always all that well received. Other complaints I’ve seen about this movie are that it ties too closely to a mere television show and two of the lesser entries in the MCU, one of which is almost two decades old. The former is an argument I automatically dismiss; I really thought we got past the arrogant movies-are-so-much-more-sophisticated-than-that-silly-TV-stuff bullshit attitude twenty-five years ago. The latter is at least a more understandable complaint, but it’s also one I don’t subscribe to in the least, because this is a shared universe. That means it shares everything. And this movie picks up on one major event and one long-dangling plotline, both of which I see as virtues. The emergence of a Celestial in the Indian Ocean is absolutely going to have some major consequences, and the fact that it was in the abject failure that was Eternals doesn’t change the fact that it happened in the universe and is far too big to be ignored. And the greatest disappointment of the lack of a sequel to The Incredible Hulk was not following up on the teased transformation of Samuel Sterns into a green guy with a big head and a bigger intellect. Tim Blake Nelson is a superlative Leader, even if he’s never called that. True, his look is not great, but that’s an irrelevancy as far as I’m concerned. Nelson absolutely was the Leader, the master manipulator, the person who has multiple plans and sees so many probabilities. (In particular Nelson reminds me of the Leader as written by the late great Peter David during his superlative and lengthy run on The Incredible Hulk from 1987 to 1998.) Anyhow, Brave New World is a fun little Captain America movie. Does it deal particularly seriously with the issue of a Black Captain America? Not enough, probably, but that’s what we had the six episodes of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier for. Frankly, that was something that needed the storytelling space of a TV series to do it justice, rather than trying to cram it all into a movie that needed to have a bunch of action scenes in it. The first half of the movie is more appealing than the second half, as the plot so dominates everything in the latter portions that the charm of the early part of the movie is muted. The first half gives us Anthony Mackie at his most charismatic, continuing the work he did in his prior appearances to make Sam Wilson the best person around. Where Rogers inspired loyalty that comes from pure awe, Wilson inspires loyalty that grows out of friendship and respect. In addition, Wilson’s banter with Torres is a delight, as is their shared banter with Bradley. The friendship that has developed between Wilson and Bradley, and shown throughout the early part of the film, is the best part of it. Wilson needs Bradley’s cynicism and Bradley needs Wilson’s optimism. Plus, it’s Mackie and Carl Lumbly, and every time two actors this great are together, it’s always going to be amazing. Speaking of amazing acting, we have Harrison Ford, who plays Ross as the evil Mirror Universe version of the president he played in Air Force One—or maybe of his Jack Ryan. Either way, it’s a bravura performance, one that continues nicely from William Hurt’s portrayal of the character, and also improves on it. (Hurt never did anything for me in the role in any case—Sam Elliott was so much better in the role in 2003’s Hulk.) Screenshot: Sony Pictures. The movie is a bit crowded. There’s really no reason for either Bat-Seraph or Sidewinder to even be in this. Not that I ever object to Giancarlo Esposito, and he is his usual brilliant self—his role is an entertaining combination of two of his other roles, mixing the physical danger of The Mandalorian’s Moff Gideon with the intellectual scariness of Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul’s Gus Fring. But Sidewinder was a character added in the reshoots, and you can kind of see the seams, as excising Sidewinder from the movie would change very little of it. The second half of the movie loses a lot of the charm, focused as it is on moving the plot along. Aside from his scene with Bucky—which is agonizingly short, these two make such a good team, Sebastian Stan should’ve had a much bigger role—there’s very little of Cap being a person, as he’s too busy being The Superhero. And while I love that this movie picks up themes from The Incredible Hulk and Eternals, that also reduces the personal stakes for Cap some. Yes, there’s the antagonism against Ross, but that’s always been a background element. Ross has been a side character for most of his MCU appearances; he hasn’t been the primary antagonist since 2008. The conflict between Ross and Wilson is much more abstract than the script wants it to be. On top of that, the final product is very obviously aping the plot structure of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is risky, as that’s a top-five MCU film, and Brave New World, um, isn’t. And it would’ve been better off not hewing quite so close. We’ll be off next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but in two weeks we’ll see Sebastian Stan for more than a brief cameo as we take a gander at Thunderbolts*.[end-mark] The post “You’re not Steve Rogers!” — <i>Captain America: Brave New World</i> appeared first on Reactor.