Summary
Captain America: Brave New Worldmight still be months away from release, but the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe entry is already doing quite the job with the shared universe worldbuilding as the film’s recent promo clips reveal an interesting new addition to the MCU.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis the fourth installment in theCaptain Americafilm series as well as directly following up the 2021 Disney+ showFalcon and the Winter Soldier,and will mark the first mainline MCU project depicting Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. While expectations for the film are high, includingCaptain America: Brave New Worldneeding to satisfyingly contrast Sam Wilson with his predecessor Steve Rogers, there’s still very little to go on about the film overall, as while some promotional material has been released it’s not done much to answer the sheer multitude of questions fans have concerning the project.
For a select few, Marvel’s recent showing at D23 offered a sneak peek at some new footage from the upcomingCaptain Americafilm, and while this isn’t widely available just yet, one part of the sneak peak will be particularly interesting for longtime Marvel fans. According toComicBookMovie’sreporting on D23, eCaptain America: Brave New Worldfinally revisits the Celestial corpse left in the ocean inEternals,the movie that firstintroduced the Celestials to the MCU in one of its own trailers.According to the report, during a promotional clip forBrave New World,newly elected President of the United States Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross holds a Celestial Island Summit event during which he reveals that a new mineral known as Adamantium has been found within the Celestial’s remains.
It was rumored early on thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldwould introduce this superior materialto the MCU, and now that claim has been validated right down to the source of the material. If the rest of the leak is to be believed, then the film’s plot will see Japan be the first to transform the liquid Adamantium into the more popular metal form best known for coating Wolverine’s skeleton and giving him his signature bladed offense. Elsewhere, it’s also been used to create a secondary shield for Captain America, making its inclusion here fitting and potentially even indicative of a future story beat. Furthermore, this rumor also alleges that this initial supply will be plundered by The Leader, a longtime foe of the Hulk and another villainous presence in the film, as this version of the material is discovered early on to absorb radiation.
There has been a long list of things that the MCU has to get to before properly introducing several new characters and storylines ot the MCU, and the addition of adamantium to the mix seems to be a step in the right direction. While this won’t get its proper payoff until the X-Men and Wolverine specifically are fully integrated into the franchise, having the metal in the canon beforehand is smart. As for the potential significance in the actual plot, everyone will just have to wait and see whether the leaks and rumors pan out or not. If it all pans out, then The Leader’s interest in the metal might lie in its effectiveness against gamma-powered characters like the Hulks. There’s every chance that the actual plot of the story has been altered drastically since then, with extensive and expensive reshoots being the order of the day around the set ofBrave New World.The production of the film has been troubled for a while now, withthe Russo brothers reportedly being brought in to save the projectat the 11th hour.
The one thing that Captain America: Brave New World definitely has to watch out for is how it will treat its antagonists. This has been a major problem for Marvel projects for a long while now, and even the MCU’s latest triumphDeadpool & Wolverinesuffers from this franchise-wide villain issue. With a much more grounded look and feel to it making the film that much more reliant on a well-written, credible threat, the nextCaptain Americais going to have to watch out for this pitfall extra carefully.
Captain America: Brave New Worldis currently set for theatrical release on 16 May 2025.
Captain America: Brave New World
Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titledNew World Order)marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers' successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.
