Captain America, the leader of Marvel’s Avengers and a popular hero in pop culture since the early 2010s, has been passed to Anthony Mackie as his character Sam Wilson takes on the role in Marvel’s new phase of movies and TV shows.
The Disney+ miniseries, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, charts the start of this transition as Americans struggle to accept Wilson as a protector. The entire show is a subtle message about racism in America and microaggressions that come towards people of color in roles of authority. The show ends with Wilson successfully taking on the new role, despite the challenges he faced along the way.
Releasing early this February, Captain America: Brave New World continues the story of Sam Wilson as he investigates a government assassination attempt and mind control devices controlling authority figures. The main antagonist of this film is Samuel Sterns, a radiation warped genius, who’s attempting to turn the President into a hulk, which would ruin their reputation.
An interesting tie-in to other films in the MCU came in with the US’s attempted acquisition of Celestial Island, a landmass created in the Pacific Ocean during the events of the 2021 Marvel film, The Eternals.
A great moment in the film comes with rising tensions between the US and Japan as President Ross and Wilson attempt to de-escalate the situation, but only create more problems when American mind-controlled pilots attack Japanese fleets. The performances by Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford carry the scene through their chemistry together.
Another fascinating turn comes when Ross is revealed to be affected by gamma radiation in his heart medication that has the potential to turn him into a hulk-like monster. This was an interesting origin of Ross, as the medical interference reflects how certain political advisors can harm people in power through bad advice or suggestions of rash action. The real-life political commentary was an interesting addition, as Marvel has more recently fallen down the rabbit hole of science fiction and more out-of-this-world problems, such as micro technological power suits or giant space men shifting reality.
This film was a solid addition to the Marvel portfolio. It had a decent plotline, a cameo from Sebastian Stan, and featured Giancarlos Esposito as a minor villain in the film. The acting from Anthony Mackie and Harrsion Ford was incredible, and they both played their roles excellently. Even though Marvel has had a rough period of movies in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, this movie is a great new Superhero film definitely worth watching.
