What’s Going On With Captain America: Brave New World?

The production of MCU movies doesn’t always go according to plan, and Captain America: Brave New World seems to be giving Marvel a bit of trouble – but the problems it’s facing aren’t unique in isolation. Some movies with similar issues, like Avengers: Endgame, have turned out perfectly fine. What does stand out about the upcoming Captain America film is the volume of issues and controversies that seem to be surrounding it. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising as, whether in the movies or comics, Captain America has faced problems that other characters don’t when it comes to tackling real issues.

As of right now, Captain America: Brave New World has changed titles, been delayed, and will be doing reshoots starting in mid-2024 ahead of its eventual release date of February 14, 2025. There has also been some controversy surrounding the inclusion of certain characters due to real-life issues that the movie will have to navigate. This isn’t new territory for Captain America, as Falcon and the Winter Soldier also chose to tackle some real life issues within the MCU timeline.

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Captain America: Brave New World’s Reshoots & Controversies Explained

In late 2023, Marvel announced reshoots for Captain America: Brave New World. Though a specific reason for these reshoots wasn’t given, it was announced that Moon Knight’s Matthew Orton would be involved with writing new scenes for the movie. News of reshoots can often raise concerns about a movie’s quality, as it can lead to assumptions that the studio isn’t happy with the current direction. There are also infamous incidents like Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four that lead some to believe a movie being reshot will inevitably lead to a worse final project.

In truth, Marvel’s choice to do reshoots on Captain America: Brave New World is pretty par for the course when it comes to MCU movies. Frequent MCU executive producer Louis D’Esposito revealed in The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that dates for reshoots are scheduled before the studio even knows what they’ll be shooting. “After the first two Iron Man movies, we knew we couldn’t get it a hundred percent right during the shoot,” Esposito explained.

He went on to say that “[Marvel tells] all the actors that there is going to be additional photography sometime in the future. We give dates so they can book it out. ‘But what are you going to shoot?’ we hear back. We don’t know. But we know we are going to shoot.” This suggests that reshoots aren’t necessarily a warning sign, but just a standard part of any MCU movie’s production.

Though reshoots might not be a big deal, Captain America: Brave New World has also faced a few controversies surrounding the film’s title and one of its new characters. The movie was initially titled Captain America: New World Order before Marvel changed it to Brave New World. This change was likely made due to the association of the phrase “new world order” with multiple conspiracy theories, as the reaction to the movie title revealed some audiences would associate the two together, and Marvel likely wanted to avoid being tied to any harmful bits of misinformation.

Another controversy arose when Marvel announced that Captain America: Brave New World would introduce Sabra into the MCU. Sabra’s inclusion in the franchise was criticized due to her original comic book appearances often featuring offensive stereotypes as her villains. There were also questions raised about whether a Marvel superhero should be tied to a controversial real-life organization like the Mossad. This prompted Marvel to release a statement assuring that they were taking a new approach with the MCU’s Sabra.

Captain America Is A More Political Character

The fact that Captain America: Brave New World has found itself touching on controversial subjects shouldn’t be too surprising. Captain America is the MCU hero most in conversation with political themes, especially Sam Wilson’s version of the character. Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s main conflict, for example, is centered on a refugee crisis. Though the events of the show are set into motion by The Blip, a fictional event, the conversation around what aid should be given to refugees who are displaced from their homes for whatever reason is reflective of real-world events.

Isaiah Bradley’s story in Falcon and the Winter Soldier also reflected real-life political issues. Bradley and fellow soldiers, all of whom were Black, who were used as human test subjects for super soldier experiments. This reflects similar true events, like the infamous Tuskegee study that used unethical testing methods on Black Americans. The series also addressed systemic injustice in a scene where Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes are arguing, only to be confronted by two police officers who immediately treat Sam as the aggressor and ask Bucky if Sam is bothering him.

Though not as overt, even the earlier Captain America movies tackled more political themes than other MCU movies. Captain America: Civil War for example, largely revolved around the question of the responsibility law enforcement, here represented by the Avengers, has to minimize harm and work within the system. Because of this history of political themes in Captain America’s stories, it makes sense that Captain America: Brave New World would continue this trend.

Captain America: Brave New World Has Come Close To Real World Issues

Marvel’s decision to include Sabra in Captain America: Brave New World has already linked the film to some ongoing real-life issues. Though Marvel’s “new approach” to the character could easily mean distancing her from the Mossad and her problematic comic book villains, her mere presence in the film still raises concerns. Sabra shares a name with a refugee camp that was the site of a massacre around the same time the character first appeared in Marvel Comics. Marvel will need to be careful how they handle this character given the scrutiny she is under, especially with the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Captain America: Brave New World‘s title change was also a good move on Marvel’s part to avoid controversy. While the phrase “new world order” has been used in a lot of different contexts, it has been associated with some very harmful conspiracies. The phrase has often been used to promote antisemitism in recent history, as pointed out by the AJC. Though there are definitely positives for trying to address real-world issues in major movies like Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel is smart to make sure they are doing so responsibly.