Captain America Brave New World is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie to be released in 2025. However, it’s been a while since the last Captain America movie (2016’s Captain America Civil War), and there have been many movies and TV shows since then.

If you haven’t been consistently following the MCU in the past few years, here are five vital things to know before watching Captain America Brave New World.

Starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.  Captain America Brave New World follows Sam Wilson, who after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red. The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.

Captain America Brave New World premieres in cinemas on 13 February 2025.

Sam Wilson Is Now Captain America

While 2019’s Avengers Endgame already showed Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) passing the shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the 2021 series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier showed the actual journey of Sam Wilson transitioning from being the Falcon to officially becoming the new Captain America.

In The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson not only had to grapple with many of the issues of becoming the first Black person or African-American to be Captain America, but he also had to face a potential contender in the form of John Walker AKA US Agent (Wyatt Russell). He ultimately earned the mantle and Captain America Brave New World will be the first MCU movie in which he will be Captain America instead of the Falcon.

There Is A New Falcon

(L-R) The Falcon/Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.

With Sam Wilson becoming the new Captain America, the Falcon mantle is not abandoned but is now being carried by someone else, namely Joaquin Torres. Making his MCU debut in the 2021 series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, he is a United States Air Force intelligence officer and a friend of Sam Wilson. He will officially be suiting up as the Falcon in Captain America Brave New World.

Technically Also A Hulk Movie Or Sequel

Interestingly, Captain America Brave New World is also sort of secretly a hidden Hulk movie or sequel, if you will. This is because it will feature the return of prominent Hulk characters such as Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and Samuel Sterns AKA The Leader.

Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross was previously played by the late William Hurt in various MCU movies starting from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. However, due to Hurt’s passing, the character is now played by Harrison Ford. In Captain America Brave New World, Ross is now the President Of The United States and he is the Red Hulk, a Hulk with the additional ability of emitting intense heat as he gets angrier. He will technically be one of the antagonists in Captain America Brave New World.

Tim Blake Nelson will reprise his role as Samuel Sterns AKA The Leader in Captain America Brave New World. Previously, we’ve only seen his human form in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, but Captain America Brave New World will be the first time that he will officially appear as the Hulk villain known as the Leader. The Leader is a Gamma-radiated being like the Hulk, but instead of strength, the Gamma radiation enhanced his brain, mind and intelligence.

Finally Addressing The Eternals Conundrum

Captain America Brave New World is also notable for finally addressing Tiamut Island, the dead corpse of a newly-born Celestial. In 2021’s Eternals, the Eternals successfully stopped Tiamut from being born because his birth would have resulted in the destruction of planet Earth. However, Tiamut was halfway through being born, so the upper part of his body is now frozen and exposed to the world.

No MCU movie or TV series has officially addressed Tiamut Island since 2021’s Eternals so it’s exciting for that to finally happen in Captain America Brave New World. One of the major plot threads in the movie is that the countries of the world (including the US) will be fighting over who owns access to Tiamut Island because the corpse contains precious resources such as Adamantium, which will officially be making its debut as a material in the MCU (in case you’re unfamiliar, Adamantium is one of the strongest metals in Marvel Comics, and it’s even stronger than Wakandan metal Vibranium).

More Grounded, No Multiverse Approach

Last but not least, Captain America is the beginning of a new era in the MCU as we’re returning to the more grounded and gritty atmosphere and tone (political espionage thriller vibes) of 2014’s Captain America Winter Soldier.

That will be refreshing and instrumental to staving off the current superhero fatigue due to the overuse of the Multiverse and Multiversal elements that the MCU has been pushing in the last several years. Both fans and casual viewers have been getting tired of all the variants and different universes that have made the MCU messier and more confusing in the aftermath of 2019’s Avengers Endgame.

Bonus: The Comics That Inspired Captain America Brave New World

In other related news, we were one of the few selected Malaysian media to participate in the global press conference for Marvel Studios’ upcoming Captain America Brave New World. They answered several questions, including one about what comics inspired Captain America Brave New World.

For the full story, head on over here.

Stay tuned for more Marvel and Captain America Brave New World coverage from us soon. Until then, excelsior!