The Marvel machine is revving itself back up.
Days after the first look at the upcoming Disney+ series “Agatha All Along,” Disney debuted the first teaser for “Captain America: Brave New World,” the first feature film with Anthony Mackie starring in the title role.
This fourth Captain America film has been long in the works. Initial production wrapped in the spring of 2023 and, recently, it was reported Marvel ordered reshoots in May of this year that added Giancarlo Esposito – featured heavily in the new teaser – to the cast. Tendrils for the film go back even further, however, to the 2021 Disney+ series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” which starred Mackie and Sebastian Stan in the lead roles and was set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) walked away from the shield.
Stan hasn’t been announced as part of the cast for “Captain America: Brave New World,” but the film is not without star power. In addition to Mackie and Esposito, the film features “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” cast members Danny Ramirez and Carl Lumbly as well as Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. Tyler and Nelson will reprise their roles from 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” an oft-forgotten entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (The film starred Edward Norton as the title Green Menace, and Mark Ruffalo later replaced him for “Marvel’s The Avengers” and subsequent films.) Ford, meanwhile, plays Thaddeus Ross, who appeared in “The Incredible Hulk” and other Marvel films and was originally played by the late William Hurt. Ford stepped into the role after Hurt died in 2022.
Here’s the plot summary, via Marvel:
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
That reference to “seeing red” is no accident. The end of the “Brave New World” trailer shows an appearance by Red Hulk, purportedly played by Ford. (When asked about Red Hulk last year, Ford brushed off the query: “What is Red Hulk?”) Not that Ford’s Ross being revealed as a villain should come as a surprise based on the way the trailer is cut together and past MCU history. The last time an actor arguably of Ford’s stature was added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe was when Robert Redford played a key role in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Redford was eventually revealed as the film’s villain and “The Winter Soldier” leaned heavily on the iconography of ‘70s conspiracy thrillers like “Three Days of the Condor” (in which Redford starred) as part of its general marketing push. For “Brave New World,” the appearance of Ford as president recalls ‘90s thrillers like “Clear and Present Danger” and “Air Force One” – but with the twist that Ford could potentially break bad.
“Captain America: Brave New World” is out in theaters on February 14, 2025. Perhaps expect more from this one during the credits of Marvel’s next film, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” out in theaters later this month.
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