Within the comic book world, it’s not uncommon for multiple people to take up the mantle of a particular superhero. There’s been multiple people under the Spider-Man mask, a fair few faces acting as both Batman and Robin, and even a brief stint with a female Thor.
The line between secret identities and multiple identities has gotten more blurry with time, and now, Marvel is bringing this tried and true aspect of the comic scene to life in its movie-verse with ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, which brings not only a new Captain America, but a new Falcon, and a new Hulk.
Kind of. As with everything MCU, much of the storylines used in its cinematic universe were written decades ago in comics, but the big M has done a good job of keeping its audiences guessing even if they think they know what is going to happen.
Joaquin Torres, for example, is the new Falcon, played by Danny Ramirez in the mini-series Falcon and the Winter Solider, and while he’s a half-man, half-bird in the comics, due to some experiments conducted on Torres by a vampire (yes, really), in the cinematic universe he’s just a guy. In fact, even Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, isn’t a super solider this time around – they’re just men, with high-tech suits and a penchant for justice.
Less super, more human
Executive producer on Brave New World Nate Moore told Man of Many that this change – effectively taking the super out of the hero – makes the victories all the more satisfying, and the losses all the more crushing.
“Sam is forced to rely a little bit more on his wits than Steve (Rogers) might have had to, because, frankly, Steve was so physically superior a lot of the time,” Moore said. “I think it also makes it scarier for audiences, because Sam is in peril a lot in this film, and when he succeeds, I think the satisfaction is bigger.”
You’ll see that in the first few minutes of the movie when, squared up against a particularly strong henchman, the new Captain America gets thrown around a bit before eventually beating him through his own skill. The old Cap woulda probably just punched the guy and gotten on with it.
Brave New World is essentially a sequel of the Falcon and the Winter Solider series, but Moore is adamant that you don’t need to see the show ahead of the film – rather, it’s the beginning of a new chapter for Captain America, with the mini-series acting as connective tissue.
In case you haven’t watched the show, though, here’s the absolute basics:
Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, the super soldier Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) gave up the Captain America name and handed it off to his partner-in-(fighting)-crime, Sam Wilson, aka Falcon. Between the end of Endgame, and the beginning of Brave New World, Wilson initially denied the Captain America mantle before eventually deciding to take up the shield and stripes, and reluctantly picked up his own Falcon in Joaquin Torres (played by Danny Ramirez) in the process.
Now, at the beginning of Brave New World, Wilson is working directly with the US Government – effectively acting as a state-sponsored superhero – in order to try to help the country rebuild. It’s new territory for the Captain America identity, as is the relationship between the hero and sidekick.
When Wilson entered the fray alongside Captain America as Falcon, the pair were viewed, and presented, as equals, but in Brave New World Torres is undeniably wet behind the ears. Danny Ramirez, who also played Torres in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, told Man of Many the two have more of a mentor-mentee relationship than being equals, but that the new Falcon is very much young, and eager to prove himself.
“When we last leave [Torres] in the show he’s just gotten his wings, and if anything’s changed [in the years between] I think it’s that the relationship between Sam and Joaquin has become a bit more settled,” Ramirez said.
“It’s like when people know each other a bit more, and they know each others buttons, what makes them laugh, they start to develop a different dynamic and I think we’ll get to experience a bit more – there’s a little bit of competition, and some playfulness that feels a bit more like mentor, mentee, or big brother, little brother.”
That relationship plays very much into the pair’s dynamic. Wilson has lost a partner before, and is hesitant to rely on the young and inexperienced Torres for fear of losing another – and at the same time, the young Falcon is ready to go at a moments notice, pushing to don the suit and get into the fray.
Moore explained that Wilson is trying hard to not only protect the world at large, but this kid who’s just learning to be a hero himself – again, without the kind of superpowers that make protecting people easier for other heroes in Marvel’s midst.
What is he protecting Torres from? Well, it’s a Captain America movie, so you can rest assured theres some mystery and government dealings going on, but the trailers have all painted a big, bad villain from the beginning: The Red Hulk, or Thunderbolt Ross.
The IncREDible Hulk
Casual Marvel movie-goers might be confused as to why The Hulk is red now, or why he’s Harrison Ford. It’s another one of those tried-and-true superhero duplicate situations, where Bruce Banner’s once-father-in-law (in the comics), Lt. Thunderbolt Ross also becomes a Hulk, but Red, and starts ruining everyone’s day.
Here in the movieverse we see it a bit differently, with Ross unknowlingly being turned into the Hulk by a mysterious third-party (we’ll leave the spoilers out here) and really only appearing at the end of the movie. Ross is played in Brave New World by Harrison Ford, after Bill Hurt, who previously played the character, passed away.
“Harrison Ford is such a legend of cinema, you never really think that [someone like him] will want to do it, but he took the role so seriously, and he really wanted to build off all the architecture that Bill had built for the charactyer for over a decade,” Moore said.
“You’re getting an actor of his caliber, who’s not only at the top of his game, but is incredibly well prepared, and incredibly game to play the Red Hulk. It can be kind of embarrasing, wearing th emotion capture suit, and strutting around on the stage growling and yelling, but Harrison did it without any ego.
“I think the way he threw himself into that really gave everyone else license to be loose, because if Harrison Ford can still have fun making this film, why can’t everyone else?”
It’s worth noting that, in the comics, Thunderbolt Ross, as the Red Hulk, eventually starts working with the Avengers to fight against greater evils – so we might not have seen the last of Ford’s Marvel career just yet.
Captain America: Brave New World launched in cinemas on 11 February, 2025.
