Heroes and villains.
They’re the bread and butter of any great action film and, over the last two decades, Marvel has given us memorable characters to love and hate along the way. Now, with the release of Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel takes beloved characters like Sam Wilson and Samuel Sterns that have, in the past, been relegated to the sidelines and finally gives them their moments to shine.
In Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) finally owns the role of Captain America. Partnering with the US government, Sam works hard to keep the peace and build a new world together. However, after President Ross (Harrison Ford, stepping into the role for the late William Hurt) is attacked, Sam’s faith in the White House is shaken as he uncovers an old foe that had been buried for over a decade.
After having portrayed Falcon for over ten years, it’s a joy to see Mackie finally get the chance to accept the mantle of Captain America. When asked what it was like for him to take over the iconic hero, he points out that this film gives Sam the chance to step out and make the character his own.
“This movie establishes Sam as his own being,” he begins. “[This is] his own entity or incarnation of Captain America. And the fact that he’s never taken the serum, the fact that he’s every man’s Captain America, I think that’ll have an effect and will pay off greatly in the future of the franchise, because he can give the perspective of the regular guy, as opposed to the super guy. And I think that’s something with the character that’s unique and rare and that people, you know, can gravitate to and acknowledge and see themselves in.”
At the same time, this was also the opportunity for Mackie himself to celebrate his character’s big chance to step into the spotlight.
“The biggest thing for me, our first day on set, all these people I had known for over a decade now, and everybody just came up and said congratulations. You know, it’s weird. Like Bob Moore, who was my dresser, was my dresser on Captain America: Winter Soldier. And you know, Russell Bobbitt, who did props on every movie I’ve been on… So, it was just like that family thing, where you see this character grow into fruition and get his moment to shine. So, I’m glad that, you know, I was able to do it with a host of stars and friends that I started with.”
But Cap also needs his Falcon. In Brave New World, Sam finds his new wingman in Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres. For Ramirez, the opportunity to work with Mackie was simply too good to pass up.
Says Ramirez, “It’s been an absolute honor to, first of all, be entrusted to take over any mantle, let alone one that, as Falcon, but that Anthony Mackie himself established…. But then also, that paralleled my life at the moment so much, which was just admiring the ability to work with some of my heroes and being able to admire them on set. And that was a dream come true for both Danny and Joaquin, and they made the job so easy. So shout out Anthony, shout out Harrison, and shout out MCU.”
When placed together onscreen, Mackie and Ramirez have delightful chemistry, something that both actors believe came naturally when they spent time together.
“After meeting Danny and spending five minutes with him, it’s very hard not to like him and enjoy his company,” laughs Mackie. “His energy’s infectious. And I just love the fact that no matter what it is or where it is, he’s always him. For me, I never had to work on it or try and find anything for us to be friends or have that chemistry, because from the first moment, it was there. It’s really weird.”
“I think I also view the dynamic a little differently because I look up to you, Anthony, so it was from the moment we got to set, I just got to throw down with someone that I’ve admired from a distance for a long time,” reiterates Ramirez. “ But I will say this, ’cause he answered the question perfectly in regards to like what our onscreen chemistry, it’s just been amazing to watch him be a leader on the set and create that culture that allows everyone to be themselves.”
Even so, every hero needs a great villain. And, in Brave New World, Captain America finds himself facing a new (or is it old?) foe in Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns. Last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Sterns makes his return to the MCU in a big way. According to Nelson, this version of Sterns had greater depth than he could have imagined.
“In this version, which is not the version I expected to play, I got to get better as an actor,” says Nelson. “And thanks to… the writers, they wrote a beautifully nuanced character that was a wonderful challenge to play, and that I wouldn’t have been able to play 15 years ago, because I don’t think I, hopefully anyway, was the actor then that that I am now. What we want to do most as actors is continue to grow, and I feel like I needed this maturity to be able to play what they wrote. And I’m incredibly grateful that they asked me back and I had a great time with such a phenomenal cast… One of the features of the MCU is the way they curate the world. They put serious actors in their movies. They don’t mess around in terms of shallow choices, in terms of casting. And that starts with Anthony, who has such depth and soul as an actor. But I would also say it applies to everyone on this screen right now, and it’s great to be a part of that group.”
This sentiment is also echoed by Giancarlo Esposito, who makes his MCU as the villainous Sidewinder. Like Nelson, Esposito also relishes the opportunity to play in the Marvel universe, while still bringing depth to his character.
“[Marvel is] making films that mean something, and that they are entertaining,” Esposito points out. “But to me, the depth of this film is in its relationships. And the relationships that create empathy and friendship and trust, suspicion, all of these elements are tantalizing to me… I look at this film as a very personal film for me, even though I played this character. I was saying earlier that there’s something about Captain America that I like. Even as Sidewinder. You know, there’s a deep depth of respect and a depth of playfulness and a depth of being someone that I recognize and maybe wish that I could be. So, this is what makes great movies, man. [laugh] Like, I get so excited because, you know, people are gonna see this and they’re gonna relate on a much deeper level that connects them, not only to their family, but to other human beings in regard to how to live this kind of admirable life.”
Of course, Sam’s ascent into the role of Captain America hasn’t been an easy journey. With constant comparisons to Steve Rogers both on and off screen, Sam takes on the star with a burden of expectations. However, Mackie still believes that his Cap isn’t as different from Rogers than one might think.
“I think Sam and Steve are similar in a lot of ways,” he explains. “I think that’s why Steve chose Sam to give the shield to, because of his distinct integrity and humanity. But you know, with Sam, there’s a certain level of compassion and understanding that comes into Sam Wilson because, remember when we met him, he was a counselor. He was a veteran. He was just an open book of intentions and goodwill. So, I think with that, you know, that informs who he is as Captain America and, you know, who he is as a human being. It takes a very compassionate person to be a listener and a counselor. And, you know, Julius and I have talked about that from the beginning. How do we get that understanding, that compassion, and that caring into an action movie of this magnitude, to display how beautiful of a human being Sam Wilson is, as opposed to a brunt, a brute, a force of nature?”
Yet every villain that stands in the hero’s way must also be motivated to succeed. As Sterns, Nelson believes that what drives his long-sidelined character is the opportunity to return and create chaos.
“What drives Samuel Sterns as the leader is a sense of justice through anarchy,” he states. “That’s my succinct answer. And there’s a lot of history behind it that is exposed really beautifully in the writing.”
Interestingly, Captain America: Brave New World seems to come as a bit of a creative reset for the MCU and that feeling hasn’t been lost on the cast. For Mackie, his time leading up to Avengers: Endgame was special but this provides a new opportunity to begin again. As he reflects upon his Marvel journey, he truly believes that Brave New World offers that feeling of starting over and building something amazing once again.
“We were on set of Endgame. And Kevin [Feige] said just ‘honestly, it’s gonna take some time for people to get over Endgame.’ It’s gonna take us time to get over, as, you know, the cast and the crew,” Mackie recalls. “It’s gonna take us time to get over Endgame, because it was such a crescendo of emotion. It was such a unbelievable storm that we witnessed of just film excellence, culminating to that moment.”
“And I think of Captain America: The First Avenger, which started all this. It was a foundation. It was a building block that, you know, the MCU built and built and built to that amazing moment of Steve Rogers standing on that peak, looking out at Thanos’s army and all of us standing there with him, knowing that this was the end, you know?… And I feel like this movie, Brave New World, just like Captain America: The First Avenger, is that foundation, that building block to build to that next crescendo, massive moment in the MCU universe. And I just, I’m proud that we’re here at the beginning. Like, I’m proud to say that we’re that footprint that is at the beginning of that walk… I’m really proud of it.”
Captain America: Brave New World is available in theatres on Friday, February 14th, 2025.
