The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen better days. 2022 has seen the release of some of the most critically panned and commercially unsuccessful films in the entire franchise, and Secret Invasion, the latest MCU television show, has a scathing 54 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. To make matters worse, the franchise that once prided itself on interconnected storytelling, and continuing the arcs of different characters outside of their own titles, has forgotten about some of its main heroes.
Reddit user Wallcrawlingspidey pointed out that Captain America, who is now Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), has not been seen or mentioned for the last eighteen MCU releases. Eighteen! The amount of content released since Avengers: Endgame (2019) is shocking enough, but it’s doubly so when you consider that Captain America has a new film around the corner.
Captain America: Brave New World wrapped production earlier this summer, and is set for release on July 26, 2024. There have been no details revealed about the plot of the film, but it’s safe to assume that it will pick up where The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) left off, since that was the last time we heard from Captain America. There have been countless threats to the multiverse over the last two years, but nobody felt it would be helpful to give the new Cap a call.
The character’s absence is most notable in Secret Invasion, as the show was being pitched as a return to the grounded, espionage storytelling that fans had been introduced to in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). The reveal that War Machine aka Rhodes (Don Cheadle) was a Skrull also retcons some of the emotional exchanges between the character and Captain America during the early episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In essence, Cap has not only been sidelined, but his last appearance has been diminished.
Admittedly, the MCU has been trying to do a lot post-Endgame. They’ve introduced dozens of characters and passed the baton on to others, but in doing so, the franchise has lost sight of the ones who should be anchoring their upcoming Avengers films. The MCU has already announced plans to release two Avengers films in the next few years: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), and we have to assume that Captain America will be at the forefront of both of these teams.
Mackie discussed the catching up that Cap will have to do in his next appearance. “[Brave New World] picks up pretty much right after [The Falcon and the Winter Soldier],” he told Inverse. “With Sam back in the fold of, ‘How do I fit into this superhero world?’ It’s more so about his ability to connect and counsel. He’s not as rash to bear arms as Steve Rogers was. Having a super serum makes you impossible to beat, so your answer to everything is to fight it out. Whereas Sam Wilson can actually die pretty easily.”
If the franchise wants to be as invested in the life and times of this Captain America as much as we were the last one, then the writers and filmmakers are going to have to do a better job of incorporating him into the story, and establishing his importance as a unifying presence against the likes of Kang (Jonathan Majors) and the Skrulls. We hope Brave New World is a step in the right direction.