In an exclusive interview with ComicBook, Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah has revealed how the upcoming Marvel film tackles one of its biggest challenges: crafting action sequences for a Captain America without super-soldier abilities. The film, which stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, takes a revolutionary approach to superhero combat by emphasizing tactical ingenuity over raw power, marking a significant departure from the previous Captain America trilogy. This strategic direction becomes particularly crucial as Wilson faces off against formidable threats, including Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, with Onah explaining that the creative team deliberately chose to highlight Wilson’s resourcefulness and combat expertise rather than attempting to replicate Steve Rogers’ power-based fighting style.
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Director Julius Onah explains that the fact Sam Wilson didn’t take the supersoldier serum helps cement him as the new Captain America.
“He’s not conventionally superpowered. He doesn’t have a serum. He’s not a billionaire. Yet at the same time, he’s still incredibly formidable,” Onah told us. The director reveals that while Marvel initially pushed for more traditional displays of strength, the creative team opted for a different approach. “Everybody at Marvel wanted him to break a bunch of bricks and bash it over people. And as fun as that is from an action standpoint, it’s also a character in that you see that he’s scrappy, that he’s resourceful, that he’ll use whatever’s around him to take down an adversary.”
[RELATED: Chris Evans Agrees With Anthony Mackie: Being American Is Not Captain’s Defining Trait]
Fortunately for Wilson, he won’t have to use his wit alone to overcome impossible challenges. As Onah explains, Captain America: Brave New World showcases Wilson’s innovative combat style through his use of advanced Wakandan armor, his signature wings, and the iconic shield.
“Whether he’s up against a jet or a Hulk, he’s absorbing energy,” Onah notes. “It’s so amazing because it’s consistent with this character who’s taking what is being thrown at him, and then he’s finding a way to use it against that adversary.”
Sam Wilson Still Has Steve Roger’s Moral Compass in Brave New World
At the heart of Captain America: Brave New World lies Wilson’s unwavering moral foundation.
“He’ll never go too far,” Onah explains about the hero’s approach to conflict. “That humanity, that restraint, is what makes him special.” As Mackie himself told us in a previous interview, “Sam is the everyman’s Captain America… the idea of him just being a regular guy that’s been thrust into this position of leadership is something that we all can identify with, that we all can relate to.”
Captain America: Brave New World presents Wilson with challenges designed to test these principles. In the movie, The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) manipulates events from within a corrupted White House while President Ross pushes for government control of superhuman assets. These threats coincide with the discovery of Adamantium, a substance threatening to eclipse Wakanda’s technological supremacy and spark a new arms race. With the future of both the Avengers and America’s ideals at stake, Wilson must prove that standing up for what’s right matters more than raw power, a lesson he learned from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).
Captain America: Brave New World releases in theaters on February 14th.
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Image Credit: Marvel Studios
