Marvel Studios Releases 'Captain America: Brave New World' Teaser
What is a Red Hulk? Congrats on completing your misdirection, Mr. President
Woo! Two Marvel Studios trailers (and posters) in one week! Indeed, after Agatha All Along had its trailer released Monday, Marvel Studios released the trailer for its fourth Captain America movie, Captain America: Brave New World, the first with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson at the mantle. Mackie did say “See you soon” sharing an image of him in-suit on Independence Day. There were some reports that the trailer was supposed to come yesterday but that didn’t happen. While one might’ve expected this to come at Marvel’s Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con the weekend of July 25, the studio would still need something to attach to Deadpool & Wolverine when it releases that same weekend. Now it has it.
The trailer opens with a change to the scene shown to exhibitors at CinemaCon: Sam is greeted by Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, now United States President and played by Harrison Ford, complete with the line that acknowledges the ascension and the recast from the late William Hurt. Ross, instead of wanting to rebuild the Avengers wants to make Captain America a military position. A would-be assassin opens fire at an event, exposing that the President’s inner circle has been compromised. For a character that supposedly only entered the film through reshoots, there is a heavier Giancarlo Esposito presence than one might expect. Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon played by Danny Ramirez, wonders if it’s a trap. Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns stands with Wilson at a stopped car in the nighttime, head seemingly unswollen while his voiceover warns that global power is shifting and Sam is just a pawn. His “evolution” as “The Leader” (as revealed at D23 2022) and his part in the plot might end up being a big reveal in the film. The trailer ends with a first look at Red Hulk, the gamma-irradiated Hulk form of Ross in the comics, as he slams down Cap’s shield, their tensions already rising because he held much more trust in Steve Rogers.
The film finally continues Wilson’s story nearly 4 years after the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where Mackie costarred with Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes. Esposito is reportedly playing George Washington Bridge, in a cast that, on top of those already mentioned also includes Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph, an Israeli former Black Widow who is now a high-ranking CIA agent, and Liv Tyler returning as Thunderbolt’s daughter Betty Ross. And Seth Rollins?
However, with the release of the trailer, certain controversy to resurface, especially with Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians, this strongest phase yet starting as retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attack. And it involves the appearance of Haas’s character. In the comics, she had the alter ego of Sabra, and served as an agent for the Israeli secret service the Mossad. Some who are pro-Israel are not happy with the changing of the character’s allegiance to an organization. Those who are anti-Israel are against the character bracing for the idea she will be depicted glowingly without any neutrality.
The complicated situation has seemingly given way to misinformation that ranges from resulting assumptions that the character’s name and backstory were changed due to recent events, some calling for a boycott that don’t seem to realize her backstory has changed. Many others allegedly realize the character has been changed, but claim it’s irrelevant regardless. When the cast was announced at D23 2022, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel began their outrage, decrying “the original comic’s ugly racism and valorization of Mossad are sickening”, while the studio promised the backstory change saying “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”
Captain America: Brave New World releases in theaters on February 14, 2025 and President Ross will return just a few months later when Thunderbolts* releases on May 5.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter