Captain America: Brave New World is now playing in theaters and, while it spends a lot of time looking to the past (especially when it comes to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and The Incredible Hulk), it also points an eye towards the MCU’s future. A lot happens to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, in Brave New World, but the question is just how large of a part will he play in the future? Will he serve a role comparable to that of Steve Rogers, or will he be more just a part of the team, be it something like the Avengers or something smaller like the Thunderbolts?
Videos by ComicBook.com
WARNING: Spoilers below for Captain America: Brave New World
As it turns out, he’ll likely not only be a part of the next Avengers roster, but he’ll be also leading it. Like Rogers before him, it seems to have fallen on Wilson’s shoulders to collect a group of heroes to serve mankind. That said, the option comes across his desk in a slightly different way.
How Does Brave New World Set Wilson’s Cap Up as the Next Leader of the Avengers?
Whereas Rogers woke up from the ice and was basically immediately enlisted by Nick Fury to assemble a team to face a potential (then imminently dangerous) extraterrestrial threat, Wilson’s Captain America has the opportunity posed to him by Brave New World‘s villain: General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. As the movie takes care to mention, it’s a full 180 for Ross, who was as integral in dismantling the team in Captain America: Civil War as Baron Helmut Zemo was.
Ross is trying to negotiate a Celestial-related deal with multiple other countries, including Japan. After Wilson and his partner Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, succeed in obtaining the stolen adamantium that comprises the Celestial’s body, Ross begins to see how a team of heroes can sometimes be necessary to face the larger threats. But Wilson is cautious, especially when it comes to this president, because like in Civil War, the proposition involves the Avengers not doing what they think is best, but rather what the government they’d serve thinks is best.
Thanks to the Leader, Ross’ deal is nixed, with the other countries involved believing Ross himself was responsible for the adamantium being stolen in the first place. After an aerial battle near the Celestial, now suitably called Celestial Island, Captain America is able to prevent catastrophe, and it seems as though not all is lost when it comes to the deal. But it’s a battle that nearly costs Torres his life, for which Wilson feels extremely guilty. But, after a well-timed visit from Bucky Barnes, Wilson both opens his heart and gets his mind back on track.
[RELATED – Brave New World Star Tim Blake Nelson Once Played Another Marvel Villain You Forgot About]
There are two signs that Brave New World is directly setting Wilson up as the next individual to say the words “Avengers, assemble.” Stopping what could very well be the next World War is his most herculean solo (not fully alone, considering Torres is there too, but not as part of a super team) success to date. It’s a big win under his belt. But his reaction to nearly losing a teammate shows someone who is a natural born leader. As Bucky says when he’s counseling Wilson, Rogers knew what he was doing when he chose Falcon, not the Winter Soldier, to be the next Captain America.
Rogers saw in Wilson what Wilson is coming around to see in himself. The final scene of Brave New World has Wilson at Torres’ bedside, cracking jokes and agreeing with the now incarcerated Ross on one point: the Avengers are needed.
Another sign is that Wilson shows wisdom in how he takes down Ross/Red Hulk. For one, he leads the gamma radiated being away from the crowded White House lawn, so hopefully fewer people will be hurt. But the location Wilson takes him to, Washington’s cherry blossoms garden, is special to Ross because of his memories of his estranged daughter. It’s the perfect tactic, one that’s not only successful, but averts from the course of further violence. Rogers would be proud, and it cements the notion that Brave New World is telling the world the MCU has decided who the next leader of the Avengers is.
