By Jaron Pak
“Captain America: Brave New World” may have been Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) first feature-length foray as Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also felt an awful lot like a sequel to 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk.” That strange outlier of the otherwise interconnected MCU feels different, doesn’t quite fit, and in many ways was left behind for years. Even its titular character was recast as Edward Norton’s moody, skulking Hulk was abandoned for Mark Ruffalo’s more upbeat, chummy Avengers alternative.
The fourth “Captain America” film flipped the script by integrating Sam’s first world-saving adventure as Cap into a continuation of multiple storylines that directly connected to that second-ever MCU movie. Despite the cameos and connections, however, Ruffalo’s Hulk never made an appearance. Why? “Brave New World” director Julius Onah recently explained Mr. Green’s omission in an interview with The Playlist, explaining:
“Well, I think at the end of the day, and I’m happy it landed where it did — this is Sam’s story. This is Sam’s first cinematic adventure as Captain America. And you want it to be about Sam leaning into his superpower to overcome the odds. So, you pull in Banner — as great as Mark Ruffalo is and as exciting as it would be to have him — and suddenly, the focus shifts away from Sam. The conversation obviously came up, but ultimately, it felt like this wanted to be Sam’s film.”
In other words: “Captain America: Brave New World” may have brought some closure to several loose ends from “The Incredible Hulk,” but it didn’t feel the need to steal the show with a direct appearance from the Other Guy.
What other MCU crossovers are in Captain America: Brave New World?
Marvel Studios
Okay, so Ruffalo didn’t ruffle any feathers with a return in “Brave New World,” but there were plenty of other callbacks and cameos that brought the larger interconnected story to life, and three of these came straight from “The Incredible Hulk.” The crimson-hued elephant in the room is the return of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross as President of the United States. With a mustache-less Harrison Ford taking over as Ross from the late William Hurt (that makes two major “Incredible Hulk” stars who’ve been recast), Ross plays a central role in the plot of the fourth “Captain America” film … even if his involvement creates as many questions as it answers.
That goes double for Samuel Sterns, played once again by Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson’s character was sidelined in “The Incredible Hulk” and left out in the ethers for over a decade and a half before being resurrected as the too-smart villain in “Brave New World.” He even pops in during the end credit scene to make some worrisome remarks about future threats to the MCU. Ross’s daughter and Banner’s love interest, Betty Ross, also made a quick appearance, with Liv Tyler reprising the role.
Outside of the “Incredible Hulk” veterans, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes also popped in for a heart-warming and hilarious scene — clearly setting the stage for his upcoming return in “Thunderbolts*.” The result of these more tasteful past MCU integrations is a fun, relatively self-contained Captain America movie that connects to other MCU properties without allowing those IPs to overshadow Sam Wilson’s first outing as Cap. The real question, though, is whether Wilson and Banner will cross paths again at some point. Perhaps in an upcoming Avengers film? Then again, those are pretty crowded already.
“Captain America: Brave New World” is now playing in theaters.
