In April 2021, the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ended with a major finale and left viewers with some major questions regarding the future of Sam Wilson, who's played by Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Anthony Mackie. The show established Wilson as the new Sentinel of Liberty in the MCU, as he opted to take on the mantle passed down to him by his friend and colleague, Steve Rogers. Thankfully, it was eventually confirmed that Wilson's journey would continue, as he would take on the lead role in the fourth Captain America movie, much to the excitement of fans.
Though we didn’t initially know much about the upcoming Marvel movie, more was revealed over time. At this point, the writing team behind the film, its director and some light plot details have been divulged. The movie was initially rumored before being officially announced at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, where Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige revealed some exciting plans for the MCU moving forward. Other major updates were later divulged at Disney's 2022 D23 Expo. The film was confirmed to be named Captain America: New World Order but, by June 2023, it was re-subtitled Brave New World as revealed by Anthony Mackie's BTS post with Harrison Ford. As of right now, it's unclear as to why the change was made, but it has a nice ring to it.
The film may still be an enigma in some respects, but there's certainly plenty to be gleaned from the information we already have on it. On that note, f you want to know more about this exciting Marvel Phase 5 project, including its release date, creative team and more, stick around. Because we’re going to break down what could be one of the biggest flicks the 2024 movie release schedule has to offer.
Captain America: Brave New World Opens In Theaters On February 14, 2025
In the spring of 2021, Deadline swooped in with one of the biggest superhero movie scoops of the year when it revealed that the flick was in the works and would follow up the Disney+ series that ended earlier that month. Fast forward over a year, and Kevin Feige was front and center on the Hall H stage 2022 San Diego Comic-Con not only sharing the film’s then-new and official title — Captain America: Brave New World— but also that it would open in theaters on May 3, 2024. The official Marvel Twitter account followed up that big announcement (one of many that night) with further confirmation of the title and release date as well as the movie’s logo, further adding to the excitement.
By March 2023, the superhero movie had reportedly begun filming and, during that June, it was confirmed that it had been pushed to July 26, 2024 as part of a major Disney scheduling shuffle. However, the sequel moved yet again in November 2023, as the House of Mouse delayed it along with Blade and Thunderbolts due to the Hollywood strikes. With that shift, the Cap film landed a February 14, 2025 release date.
Brave New World reportedly wrapped at the tail end of June 2023, with cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau confirming the news with an Instagram post. However, it was later reported that Captain America 4 would go through major changes, as reshoots were reported to be taking place for months, starting in January 2025.
Anthony Mackie Is Set To Reprise His Role As Captain America
When Brave New World opens on the big screen in May 2024, it will be 10 years (plus one month) since Mackie was first introduced as Sam Wilson and became one of Steve Rogers’ closest allies and best friends in the critically-acclaimed The Winter Soldier. Talk about one hell of a decade for Mackie and his most famous character, who went from sidekick to the star of his own movie.
In August 2021, Deadline reported that Mackie closed on a deal to star in what was still referred to as Captain America 4 at the time and would become the first official member of the movie’s cast. Producer Nate Moore called the character an “underdog” and compared him to Rocky Balboa when speaking with Comicbook.com’s Phase Zero podcast. Mackie also explained that his version of Cap differs from Steve Rogers because he's more "humane" -- since he lacks superhuman abilities.
Of course, many across the Internet have had their thoughts on Mackie taking on the mantle of the star-spangled Avenger, with many asserted that only Steve Rogers is Cap. With that, Chris Evans dropped a definitive statement on the matter, declaring that Sam Wilson is the new Sentinel of Liberty. While speaking to CinemaBlend director Julius Onah also addressed the critics and said that Sam taking the shield represents the ideals that Captain America has always represented.
Two Incredible Hulk Alums Will Return Alongside Some Falcon And The Winter Soldier Stars And More
At Disney's 2022 D23 Expo, a few more cast members were confirmed for New World Order, and three of them are MCU alums. The biggest piece of news was arguably the reveal that The Incredible Hulk's Tim Blake Nelson is returning and reprising his role as Samuel Sterns a.k.a. The Leader. This will mark the first time that the character has been seen in a live-action production since the aforementioned 2008 film. It seems the character is being positioned as the main antagonist of the movie. And if that weren't exciting enough, fellow TIH veteran Liv Tyler is also reprising her role as the long-absent Betty Ross, who was the love interest of Bruce Banner.
On top of that, Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson will be joined by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Joaquin Torres, played by the returning Danny Ramirez. Not only that, it's also been confirmed that Torres will become the MCU's new Falcon. The movie will also see the return of Carl Lumbly's Isaiah Bradley, the veteran super soldier who became a mentor to same in the Disney+ show. It's fair to assume that said relationship will be expanded upon here. Also joining the roster of talent is Xosha Roquemore, whose role has yet to be revealed, and WWE's Seth Rollins has been cast in an undisclosed part as well.
Harrison Ford Will Reportedly Make His Debut As Thunderbolt Ross In Captain America: Brave New World
Brave New World will also feature the return of another MCU character, though they're going to look a bit different this time around. Harrison Ford will step into the role of Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who was previously played by the late William Hurt. The Cap movie will only be the first film to feature Ford's iteration of the character, as he's reportedly set to reprise it in Thunderbolts.
Captain America 4 producer Nate Moore broke his silence on Harrison Ford's casting and expressed excitement over the iconic actor joining the superhero franchise. Based on his comments, it sounds like Ross and Sam Wilson will truly go toe to toe. It sounds like the Indiana Jones actor himself was apparently delightful on set, though, because he lightened the energy with hilariously blunt declarations.
And of course, there are plenty of fans out there hoping that the MCU's Ross also becomes Red Hulk at some point. When Harrison Ford addressed his Marvel role, he remained tight-lipped, so don't expect him to spill any details on the matter moving forward. However, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has revealed that Ross -- in this movie -- is now the President of the United States.
Captain America: Brave New World Will Introduce A Classic Comics Character To The MCU
In addition to returning faces, the upcoming sequel will also mark the MCU debut of Sabra, who’ll be played by Shira Haas. Introduced as a Mossad agent in the pages of The Incredible Hulk back in the ‘80s, Sabra is a mutant and one of the few Israeli superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The heroine is quite powerful, as she possesses a plethora of abilities, such as super strength, flight and a healing factor. Whether or not her powers will be scaled back a bit in the cinematic universe remains to be seen, but she should be a force to be reckoned with regardless.
Sabra has been somewhat controversial, however. When she was first introduced in the ‘80s, she essentially thrust Marvel into the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The character also received backlash for seemingly representing a number of Arab stereotypes. At present, many are concerned about how Marvel Studios intends to handle her in the new Captain America movie. Shortly after the company confirmed her inclusion during D23 2023, it released a statement to Variety and others in which it assured audiences that it would be taking a “new approach” to the polarizing hero.
Julius Onah Will Direct Captain America: Brave New World
With Joe and Anthony Russo busy with their various Netflix projects, the brothers behind the previous two Captain America movies (as well as the third and fourth Avengers epics) won’t be returning to direct Brave New World. Instead, Julius Onah, the Nigerian-American filmmaker behind 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox will be sitting in the director’s chair when the movie eventually starts production at a later date.
The hiring was first announced in July 2022, when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the director, who made his feature-length debut in 2018 with the action thriller, The Girl Is in Trouble, would become the first person without the last name of Russo to direct a Cap flick for the first time in more than a decade.
Captain America: Brave New World Is Being Written By The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Head Writer, Malcolm Spellman
Although the film's director will be working with Marvel Studios for the first time in his career, it's a different story for the film’s main screenwriter. In April 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Malcolm Spellman, who created, wrote and served as head writer on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would be returning to pen the script for what was then called Captain America 4. The outlet also reported at the time that Dalan Musson, who also worked on the Disney+ series, would be co-writing the script alongside Spellman. It's since been reported that director Julius Onah made contributions to the script as well.
In November 2022, producer Nate Moore confirmed to Collider that a script had been completed and that Marvel Studios is pleased with it. However, when it was reported in December 2023 that the movie would undergo major reshoots, it was confirmed that new material would be written. Said scenes are reportedly being penned by Matthew Orton, who served as a writer and consulting producer on the series Moon Knight.
Specifics on the premise of Malcolm Spellman’s Brave New World screenplay are mostly being kept under wraps at this time, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to think the former TV showrunner will not shy away from tackling race and social issues in the new movie in addition to the superhero shenanigans. Spellman previously told CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg that Marvel fans had already proved they were “very willing to go on these rides and deal with stuff that has substance.”
Captain America: Brave New World Will Be A Marvel Phase 5 Movie
There's been a great deal of apprehension concerning the MCU’s direction since the end of Phase 4. However, fans were given some much needed reassuring in July 2022 when Kevin Feige shared information about the next two phases of what's being called the Multiverse Saga. During the Marvel Studios presentation at 2022 SDCC, Feige revealed the full slate for Phase 5, which kicked off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February 2023. It was set to conclude with the delayed Thunderbolts, but the movie that'll now cap it off is set to be Blade.
Near the latter part of Phase 5 (which has seen some reshuffling due to the Hollywood strikes in 2023 and more) is Brave New World, which is set to premiere ahead of fellow big-screen phase entries Thunderbolts and Blade. With Cap 4 being released only months prior to the former film, one has to wonder if the two movies might share some direct connections. After all, Sam Wilson's old frenemy, Bucky Barnes, is set to appear in that team-up movie.
There is still a lot we don’t yet know about Captain America: Brave New World (and the same is true of some other upcoming Marvel movies). However, we expect to know more in the very near future.
