Summary

Captain America: Brave New World
director Julius Onah teases Sam Wilson’s “coming-out show,” but reminds the fans that the new Cap “is a guy who can bleed.”
Get ready for action-packed scenes as Sam Wilson, a man without superpowers, is at odds with the President of the United States and The Leader.

Brave New World
opens on Valentine’s Day 2025.

Anthony Mackie is ready to take his version of Captain America to the next level, but he is still “a guy who can bleed.” After starring alongside fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe alum Sebastian Stan in their The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) Disney+ series, Mackie is taking up the mantle and Vibranium shield of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) on the big screen for the very first time in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World. And the new Cap, Sam Wilson, will be up against the President of the United States — none other than Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross — and another 16-year-old character from The Incredible Hulk (2008): The Leader. Brave New World director Julius Onah said in a new interview with Empire:

It’s really his coming-out show. It’s about putting him through the paces […] This is a guy who can bleed.

Harrison Ford takes over the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who was formerly portrayed by the late William Hurt in the MCU. Ross (Hurt) first appeared in the MCU during the events of the Edward Norton-led Incredible Hulk film in 2008. Meanwhile, Tim Blake Nelson reprises the role of Samuel Sterns, whom he also played in The Incredible Hulk.

For most of the 2008 movie, Sterns went by the code name of Mr. Blue, while conversing with Mr. Green, aka Bruce Banner (Norton), in an attempt to help cure Dr. Banner’s radioactive condition. The last time Sterns was shown on-screen in the 2008 film, he was just beginning to make his transformation into The Leader — who will be at odds with Wilson’s Captain America. Now, check out a good look at Sam draped in his Captain America uniform from Brave New World, courtesy of Empire magazine below:

Marvel Studios

Captain America ‘Is a Guy Who Can Break’

Long gone is the super-serum enhanced Steve Rogers’ Captain America, who was one of the most powerful superheroes in the MCU. What’s interesting to remember about Sam Wilson’s (Mackie) Cap is that he is a man without the superpowers Steve had pumping through his veins. So, it will make him going up against Thunderbolt (Ford) and The Leader (Nelson) much more intriguing and fraught with danger. Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah said in the same interview:

Part of the challenge for Sam as Captain America, working within the government, is the way he’s going to make decisions. The point of view he’s going to have will at times put him at odds with the President.

Related The Future of the Avengers Rests on One Upcoming MCU Movie’s Shoulders Captain America: Brave New World will see Anthony Mackie’s Captain America rebuilding the Avengers team alongside Harrison Ford’s President Ross.

Onah said in the same interview:

“Sam finds himself almost standing between Samuel Sterns
and what he thinks the government owes him, and how he wants to go about getting that […] The action in this movie is incredibly exciting because
this is a guy who can break, this is a guy who can bleed.
We get to have
a lot of fun pushing him to the limit.”

And be sure to check out Sam Wilson coming face-to-face with President Thunderbolt Ross in more behind-the-scenes photos from Brave New World right now.

Captain America: Brave New World
opens in theaters on Valentine’s Day 2025.