What Does Captain America 4’s New Subtitle Tease For The MCU

“Secret Empire: Brave New World” is essentially a collection of viewpoint stories that play out as fractions of the larger “Secret Empire” event. While Sam Wilson doesn’t play a huge role in this particular corner of the “Secret Empire” storyline, he’s instrumental in the main plot as a down-for-the-count Captain America who eventually resumes the mantle and becomes a great hero again. This is an interesting narrative, given that producer Nate Moore has teased that Sam’s Captain America will indeed be a Rocky Balboa-style underdog.

It’s worth noting that “Captain America: Brave New World” likely won’t adapt the “Secret Empire” storyline in its entirety. After all, the movie isn’t called “Captain America: Secret Empire,” and Marvel Studios will probably be hesitant to faithfully adapt a comics storyline that has drawn accusations of anti-Semitism and even death threats to its writer (via The New York Times). Besides, it doesn’t seem likely that Sam Wilson will become a villain during his very first big-screen outing as Captain America. Instead, given what we know about the movie’s cast so far, the most likely evil overlord situation might very well come from some combination of Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel “The Leader” Sterns and Harrison Ford’s President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, which would no doubt prove a mighty challenge for the new Captain America — especially if the persistent rumors about Ross’ Red Hulk eventually showing up in the MCU are correct. 

Of course, while the possibility of a full-on “Secret Empire”-style “Hydra Captain America” storyline seems distant, on the off chance that they’d be willing to do it, the situation would probably require Chris Evans’ return as a villainous Steve Rogers. After all, Sam Wilson must stay the protagonist here, and a random introduction of a hitherto unknown alternate-timeline Cap seems like an awkward solution. So, could Evans potentially return?

“Secret Empire: Brave New World” is essentially a collection of viewpoint stories that play out as fractions of the larger “Secret Empire” event. While Sam Wilson doesn’t play a huge role in this particular corner of the “Secret Empire” storyline, he’s instrumental in the main plot as a down-for-the-count Captain America who eventually resumes the mantle and becomes a great hero again. This is an interesting narrative, given that producer Nate Moore has teased that Sam’s Captain America will indeed be a Rocky Balboa-style underdog.

It’s worth noting that “Captain America: Brave New World” likely won’t adapt the “Secret Empire” storyline in its entirety. After all, the movie isn’t called “Captain America: Secret Empire,” and Marvel Studios will probably be hesitant to faithfully adapt a comics storyline that has drawn accusations of anti-Semitism and even death threats to its writer (via The New York Times). Besides, it doesn’t seem likely that Sam Wilson will become a villain during his very first big-screen outing as Captain America. Instead, given what we know about the movie’s cast so far, the most likely evil overlord situation might very well come from some combination of Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel “The Leader” Sterns and Harrison Ford’s President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, which would no doubt prove a mighty challenge for the new Captain America — especially if the persistent rumors about Ross’ Red Hulk eventually showing up in the MCU are correct. 

Of course, while the possibility of a full-on “Secret Empire”-style “Hydra Captain America” storyline seems distant, on the off chance that they’d be willing to do it, the situation would probably require Chris Evans’ return as a villainous Steve Rogers. After all, Sam Wilson must stay the protagonist here, and a random introduction of a hitherto unknown alternate-timeline Cap seems like an awkward solution. So, could Evans potentially return?