Captain America: Brave New World – An “Incredible Hulk” Sequel?
(Photo Courtesy of Marvel Studio’s verified Instagram account @marvelstudios)
Kerry Kadel | Editor-in-Chief
WARNING: Spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World ahead!
I’ve never seen a Marvel movie the day it comes out. The only time I’ve ever done that was back in 2012 when my dad was out of town, so my mom decided to take all four kids to the theater on the weekend that Avengers released. I remember sitting under a powerful air conditioner with my little brother sitting on my mom’s lap, my younger sister and older brother squished on either side of me in a compacted theater.
Seeing that movie altered my personality forever, making room for its own place in my heart. I had known about the Avengers based on the animated shows that Disney XD aired and of course, the culture of action movies in the media. However, the movie was what my 13-year-old brain thought of as Oscar-worthy. I dove into the fandom, and throughout the years, movie after movie, I saw Marvel movies with friends, learning about the new characters being introduced, and indulging in fan-made projects like fanfiction.
First hearing about the announcement of the next Captain America movie with Anthony Mackie leading as Captain America for his first solo movie, I was ecstatic because I love Mackie as Sam Wilson. Mackie stole my heart as the best partner to Steve Rogers’ Captain America when he was Marvel hero Falcon in The Winter Soldier. His character being given the shield and the role of Captain America after Avengers: Endgame spoke more to audiences and fans who read the comics (Sam Wilson became Captain in the comics in 2014), but also to what it means to our culture as a black man being the symbol of protecting mankind.
The Disney Plus miniseries show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier–then turned Captain America and the Winter Soldier upon the final episode–was fantastic upon covering the cultural ideas and arguments about having a black man as the “new” Captain America. It was original and introduced Wyatt Russell as John Walker who became Marvel hero U.S. Agent by the show’s end. Fun fact: Wyatt Russell is the son of Kurt Russell who is the antagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Wyatt Russell is set to make his reappearance as John Walker in Thunderbolts* set to release on May 2nd of this year.
The week leading up to the film’s release, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 49%, but the audience score is a perfect 80%. I’d be the worst film review critic, because unless a movie is truly, obviously bad, I like it. “Movie Buffs” hate me. I have fun watching movies, and not all movies are Oscar-worthy or dying to take home all the awards. I’m no professional movie-goer and reviewer at all, but I tend to not look so hard into all the positives and negatives of Marvel movies. These films do have flaws, but I tend to think that it’s obvious that no one expects every Marvel movie to make it to the Oscars award shows. Black Panther deserved every single Oscar that it did, but I think that its achievements raised the bar for critics and viewers alike a little too high for the solo movies that followed.
I do not think Marvel movies are to be taken so seriously from a posh critic’s point of view–the Marvel Cinematic Universe intertwines monsters, mythology, creatures and science fiction into the real world. It makes me wonder that if the Marvel comics were never a thing, if Marvel was not a company of its own, these movies would not be within pop culture mainstream as they are today.
That being said, from now on, you are reading a review from the Incredible Hulk’s number one fan.
Where do I begin? Seeing Red Hulk in the trailer was sort of a shocker. I had known that Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was Red Hulk from the comics, and though I wish it was kept a secret that Red Hulk would make an appearance, I was more amazed that Marvel didn’t completely forget about the character. It’s a struggle being an Incredible Hulk fan, since the character has been stuck in what I call, the Sony and Marvel co-parenting plan. The 2003 and 2008 The Incredible Hulk films are part of this co-parenting plan, starring Eric Bana (2003) and Edward Norton (2008) as Bruce Banner, the gamma physicist who used himself as a test subject that transformed him into the giant, strong, angry green monster. To keep this article from being an “All You Need to Know About Bruce Banner” piece, here’s a diagram to help you understand the basics of the character’s backstory.
Watching the 2008 The Incredible Hulk will give you a more in-depth knowledge of the characters in Captain America: Brave New World. All you need to know now is that Thaddeus Ross is now president of the United States within the film, at least for five months up until the action takes place.
I will say that it was hard for me to follow the beginning mission that Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres–the new Falcon–were sent on, needing to retrieve stolen refined metals called “adamantium” from “Celestial Island,” which emerged from the ocean and is part of Marvel’s Eternals storyline. Giancarlo Esposito stars as Sidewinder, the first antagonist of the film, who I think deserves way more screen time than he was given. I thought he was the bigger antagonist of the film before the official trailer released on Marvel’s YouTube channel shows a mysterious figure in a hat. Still, to have someone as fantastic as Giancarlo Esposito to play a villain–a role he is insanely phenomenal at–I think his screen time wasn’t given as much respect as it should have. There is a fight scene between his character and Sam Wilson, where I thought would lead to Sidewinder getting away, but he is defeated by Wilson and captured.
It is learned that Sidewinder has been hired by another individual–the masked man from the trailer–to attain the metals. The man responsible for hiring Sidewinder is none other than Dr. Samuel Sterns, who was poisoned with Bruce Banner’s blood from a sudden attack at his laboratory after Banner and Betty Ross sought Stern for help. Stern has been horribly deformed from the poisoning, not having an alter-ego as Hulk is for Banner. Thaddeus Ross had blamed Sterns for the attack on Harlem from Hulk and his rival Abomination years prior and imprisoned him within a secret army camp. Ross and Stern made a pact for his freedom as long as Stern could aid Ross in his presidency. It’s learned later between a confrontation of Ross and Sam Wilson that Ross sought Stern’s help due to heart problems.
The conflict that brought everything up to this point, all has to do with the United States and Japan negotiating custody use of adamantium. Stern wedged his evil plans into Ross’ peaceful negotiations with Japan in order to start a war between the two countries. What’s just as scary is that Sterns was able to create a way to mind control any officer with a weapon to kill under his command by playing “Mr. Blue,” a song by The Fleetwoods. The name is also an alias that Sterns used in the 2008 The Incredible Hulk to communicate with Bruce Banner about a cure to rid him of the Hulk (I am sad to announce I did not understand this song reference as Bruce Banner’s number one fan).
As you can see so far from this article, there is more to say about the story that’s connected with Thaddeus Ross, Samuel Sterns, and any other Bruced Banner-related Marvel character other than Sam Wilson himself. This is where I believe the movie falls flat, since Sam Wilson is a very bright and determined character, mirroring what his predecessor, Steve Rogers was. Sam struggles the same fight that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier covered: he is not Captain America. He does not have superpowers, he was never injected with the super-serum like Rogers was to give him. He is an ordinary, normal, human. This is what the movie states as Sam’s inner conflict as the show seemed to attack more cultural and societal standards of a black Captain America.
This could’ve been a stronger message to audiences, since every other Marvel character has powers, acquired like accidents or born with them. Sam Wilson was an ordinary guy in the Marvel Universe who trained with the U.S. Airforce and mastered a new piece of technology that aids him in defeating villains. Without the wings, he’s nothing. This is like the argument Steve Rogers had, that being, with his shield, he’s nothing special–but he is because he was injected with a serum that gave him muscles, made him taller, etc. Sam’s inner war with himself could’ve been highlighted as something bigger than him, that without special powers or intense Black Widow training, he is Captain America. His confidence towards this dilemma is 70/30 in the film; 70% he loves being Captain America, yet 30% he is speaking about how he thinks Steve made a mistake in passing the mantle to him.
The message and storyline could’ve been so much stronger reminding viewers that this is a man with army-basic fighting skills, only refined thanks to training with the Avengers. Even then–he is an Avenger, that is higher than any other government title given to a man like him in the MCU. He was entrusted with Captain America’s shield, as a human, to serve and protect citizens worldwide, no matter what, and this is not as forced in the film as it should have been.
As much as I love Hulk, the characters and references slightly overshadowed Anthony Mackie’s part in the film as well as Sam Wilson’s. Nevertheless, Mackie embodied his character without any dire change to upset me as a viewer. He is commanding the attention and living it up in the spotlight being Captain America. Maybe it’s because his character is an ordinary human, but there’s something more to love about Mackie’s Captain American than Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. I love Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, but his character’s personality seemed to snowball in Endgame, and he was always tied to American nationalism–I mean, besides being the literal symbol of America–it was like a trait he was born with. I have a brother in the Army, but he is nowhere near personality-like as Steve Rogers. I think what I’m trying to say is that the character of Steve Rogers was 2D, a little flat, whereas there’s a little more shape to Sam Wilson.
Moving on, Harrison Ford as the president of the United States in a film again felt right to me for some reason. I am not a Star Wars buff, I am an Indiana Jones lover–I didn’t even know Ford was Han Solo as a kid, because my grandfather introduced me to Harrison Ford as Dr. Indiana Jones, the coolest archaeologist who beats up Nazi’s and retrieves valuable artifacts. Harrison Ford replaced actor Willaim Hurt, the original Thaddeus Ross, who passed away in March 2022 due to a battle with prostate cancer. He had reprised his role as General Ross back in 2016 for Captain America: Civil War, and reappeared in Black Widow and Avengers: Endgame before his death. I think Harrison Ford was a great choice, setting my biases aside, since he tends to take on lead roles of male characters who are headstrong and ambitious. In his youth, he did many action movies such as Blade Runner, The Fugitive, and Air Force One. No matter what the role is, Ford allows his characters to be emotional, even while their personalities tend to be more straightforward. He is able to mimic the pain of turning into Red Hulk, much like Mark Ruffalo has done in his past Marvel-related films.
A little self-indulgent rant here before my ending thoughts, but being a fan of the Hulk, I was over the moon and could’ve circled all of UD campus ten times upon watching the ending of the film, being that Marvel brought Betty Ross back. Played by Jennifer Connelly in the 2003 adaptation and Liv Tyler in the 2008 film, Betty Ross is the ex-girlfriend of Bruce Banner, who worked together when Banner turned into the Hulk. As you can tell from the mentions of all these actors and characters from the 2008 adaptation, that film has more love than the other. I have always loved Betty Ross and Bruce Banner’s relationship, like star-crossed lovers who could never be together because the U.S. government would always be after Bruce, and he’d fear that Hulk would hurt Betty. Seeing her at the end gave me hope that Ruffalo’s Hulk and Tyler’s Betty Ross can meet and make something new for the fans.
Overall, this film is very action packed, with great scenes of Captain America and Falcon flying in the skies, taking out villains with their mechanical wings and fighting skills. There’s a good amount of humor between the characters, something to make you smile, and topics such as history’s racial tension between Thaddeus Ross and Isaiah Bradley, the world’s first and secretive black super soldier–who could have been the first black Captain America. Many of the plot’s additions of Hulk-related characters drive the story, but it opens up a new idea of what’s to come in the future of Marvel villains, as Samuel Sterns hints at to Sam Wilson in the end credits scene.
I don’t think this was the third worst Marvel movie, ranked as such by Rotten Tomatoes–who have a record for scoring audience-favored movies low. Yet, this is just my opinion, and what I say are the best Marvel movies are definitely not the “professional” guidelines that Rotten Tomatoes follow. I would like to see this film again, not only to relive the action and the introduction of the characters, but because a little boy next to me wouldn’t stop trying to talk to me about the theories he had for the film. I explain to him who Bucky Barnes is one time and he doesn’t stop yapping. He even tapped me on the shoulder trying to tell me something during a pivotal scene.