Warning: This article contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World. In its high-flying finale, Sam Wilson’s winged Captain America (Anthony Mackie) has just saved a Japanese fleet from mind-controlled American pilots and diffused tensions between two countries on the brink of war. But when the gamma-mutated scientist Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) triggers U.S. President Thaddeus Ross’ (Harrison Ford) transformation into a rampaging Red Hulk, Cap swoops in to save the day when he manages to talk down the enraged Ross by reminding him of his estranged daughter: Betty Ross (Liv Tyler).
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Appearing for the first time since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Betty visits her incarcerated father at the Raft, the floating supermax prison where the former POTUS is contained and undergoing treatment for his affliction following his surrender. Although Ross’ reunion with his daughter happens behind bars, it’s a happier outcome for Ross than the alternative: an ending that culminates with Red Hulk’s death.
RELATED: Captain America: Brave New World Production Described as “Tense Marvel Shoot” With “A-List Egos”
It’s no secret that Captain America: Brave New World underwent three weeks of reshoots over a year after wrapping principal photography in the spring of 2023, altering sequences featuring the Serpent Society. (Seth Rollins and Rosa Salazar’s Serpents were replaced by Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson’s Copperhead and Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, while Nelson revealed he shot the Leader’s scenes twice.)
But one alternate ending may have been spoiled by set photos showing Betty attending a funeral, likely that of President Ross. Paparazzi photos captured by JustJared show Betty flanked by Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) and Sam — his arm in a sling, confirming the cut sequence takes place after Cap’s fight with Red Hulk — attending alongside Ross’ right-hand woman, Agent Leila Taylor (Xosha Roquemore).
A shot of the since-deleted military funeral (above) appears in the film’s first teaser that released in July 2024, revealing a coffin draped with an American flag beneath blooming cherry blossoms — the tree that plays a sentimental role in Ross’ relationship with Betty, and during Cap’s climactic, destructive battle with Red Hulk in Washington, D.C.
The set photos surfaced online in March 2023, before the reportedly “costly” reshoots took place more than a year later. According to a source close to the production, Brave New World underwent the 22-day period of additional photography in response to what the source described as “disastrous” test screenings. (The film received a B- grade from opening night moviegoers polled by CinemaScore — the lowest for the 35-movie MCU — and a “rotten” score from critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.)
Director Julius Onah has refuted reports of extensive reshoots, saying in a recent interview that “we did one period of additional photography, which is the same on all of these [Marvel] movies.”
“There are so many variables, and [additional photography] becomes essential to fine-tuning and coming up with a thing that we know audiences will love,” the first-time MCU director added.
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World — starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford — is now playing in theaters.
