A Phase 5 tentpole that’s already courted controversy in countless ways might be junking its offensive title

Something that Marvel Studios has become oddly obsessed with post-Avengers: Endgame is stamping its movies with unwieldy or even unsuitable titles. As fans have argued before, mouthfuls like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might have even damaged those film’s performances. One upcoming Phase Five tentpole, however, has a controversial title for a very different reason, although it’s possible the studio has belatedly woken up to this fact.

According to the latest bit of intel to come from scooper CanWeGetSomeToast, Captain America: New World Order is now simply going by “Captain America: Untitled” as Marvel has allegedly elected to ditch the previously announced name for it. If this is the case — and, bear in mind, that this is just a rumor for now — at least Kevin Feige and company have a while to figure out another title as Cap 4 has a full year before it hits cinemas on May 3, 2024.

The reason New World Order caused such a headache for Marvel in the first place was because that particular phrase is a politically loaded one — while it’s traditionally been used to describe a time of sociopolitical upheaval, which is likely what Marvel was referencing, it’s typically used these days by hard right-wing commentators and public figures. So it’s obvious why the studio may have done an about-turn on its decision to employ this phrase in the Sentinel of Liberty’s next outing.

This isn’t even the only controversy surrounding Cap 4 either, as the inclusion of Israeli superhero Sabra has likewise caused offense while the way the film appears to be a secret Incredible Hulk sequel has fans worrying Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson will be a supporting player in his own story. It’s probably too late to fix these issues, but ditching New World Order could be just what the doctor ordered.