Brave New World Could Succeed Where Secret Invasion Failed

Key Takeaways

• Captain America: Brave New World is Sam Wilson’s first official outing as Captain America.
• The trailer sets up a plot involving political intrigue and conspiracy reminiscent of previous Captain America films.
• Captain America: Brave New World could redeem the MCU in the political espionage genre after fans lost faith in Secret Invasion.

Captain America: Brave New World will be the next blockbuster to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it could provide one important thing for the franchise that was lost after Secret Invasion’s release.

The fourth Captain America film will be the first time Anthony Mackie’s character officially holds the moniker left by Steve Rogers. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explored Sam Wilson’s journey to pick up Captain America’s shield and ended with the character establishing himself as a new version of the idealized superhero. Wilson’s Captain America has the advantage of Rogers’ shield in combination with his vibranium wings, making him a force to be reckoned with on land and in the air. However, Captain America: Brave New World sets up a problem that Sam will need more than just his fighting skills to solve, leaning into a tone that the prior Captain America films excelled at.

The Captain America Movies Set A High Bar For MCU Thrillers

Captain America was one of the first MCU movies ever released. It introduced wartime hero Steve Rogers and was, for the most part, a war film, but it also established the origins of Hydra, the subversive terrorist organization that went on to cause so many troubles in the MCU. It was Captain America: The Winter Soldier that really set a precedent for the Captain America movies’ espionage tone, following Steve Rogers’ fight to uncover the Hydra conspiracy involving his best friend, Bucky Barned (aka the Winter Soldier). The film was a perfect blend of superhero action and high-stakes conspiracy thriller, which set a high bar for the genre moving forward in the MCU.

In many ways, Captain America: Civil War continued this tone and story, by introducing the controversial Sokovia Accords which divided the Avengers team members by their individual morals and ethics. The movie also hinged much of its plot in that political and conspiracy tone, with Captain America forced to reckon with Thaddeus Ross and the government’s demands of the team, whilst also dealing with a Hyrda insurgent, Helmut Zemo, who was intent on activating the Winter Soldier for his gain. The Captain America movies established the MCU’s take on espionage, which is something many were expecting to see continue in Secret Invasion.

Secret Invasion Was Marvel’s Next Big Spy Thriller

When teasers for Secret Invasion first debuted, many were hooked by the twisty espionage tone it presented. Secret Invasion offered the MCU a chance to introduce an even more elevated spy-thriller to the franchise. The series focused on Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, the ex-director of SHIELD, as he was sucked into an unseen war with a faction of radicalized Skrulls who were intent on making Earth their home.

Given their shapeshifting powers, this meant no one in Secret Invasion could truly be trusted and provided the perfect opportunity for the MCU to capitalize on that environment of paranoia. The Disney+ series’ stakes were high with much of the action taking place in the political sphere, with global ramifications, and it dipped into more mature territory as it explored terrorism and torture. It also did away with a lot of the more fantastical superhero action, putting the focus on its street-level heroes whose only powers are their intelligence. Unfortunately, Secret Invasion didn’t quite deliver on what it promised.

What Was Secret Invasion’s Mistake?

Secret Invasion had all the ingredients to continue the tone set-up in the Captain America films, and perhaps even push it into even darker territory. While the series provided some of this, it ended up wasting the potential of its premise. It was full of wasted character deaths, dull action, rushed pacing, and twists with no stakes. But perhaps its greatest mistake was being too much of a superhero series.

Secret Invasion could have been a corner of the MCU that provided clever twists, fueled by intriguing character motivations, set in a high-stakes espionage world. But by the end of the series, it had traded this in for an uninteresting superhero plot involving making Emilia Clarke’s G’iah the most overpowered hero in the MCU. It felt like Secret Invasion was just there to set up the idea of Super Skrulls and found the least interesting way to get there. It was an unfortunate waste of a great comic book arc, but Captain America: Brave New World might be able to reaffirm that the MCU can still do spy thrillers.

The most recent trailer for Captain America: Brave New World was reminiscent of the previous Captain America films, setting up a tale of political intrigue and global stakes amid a suspenseful espionage tone. While the trailer features its share of blockbuster action, it also sets up a conspiracy that means Sam Wilson will need to use his smarts as much as his brawn. Moments in the trailer allude to Captain America: Brave New World’s plot dealing with a new terrorist organization and a sense of paranoia as Sam searches for the mole in President Thaddeus Ross’ political sphere. “You can’t trust anyone,” Joaquin Torres says at one point in the trailer. In another moment a mysterious voice says “Captain America, you have to ask yourself: who is playing who?” This paranoid game of cat-and-mouse was also inherent to Secret Invasion’s plot, but Captain America 4 now has the chance to fully deliver on that concept and tone.

Captain America, you have to ask yourself: who is playing who?

Captain America: Brave New World Could Fall Into The Same Trap

While everything shown for Captain America: Brave New World so far seems to suggest it will deliver that high-stakes political thriller Marvel fans have been wanting, it does run the risk of falling into the same trap as Secret Invasion. Another publicized element of the new Marvel movie is that it will involve Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross transforming into the Red Hulk. It’s still unclear how Captain America: Brave New World intends to use Red Hulk, and whether the character will be a hero or a villain in the story.

The inclusion of Red Hulk could become a problem simply because the character is the most exaggerated superhero element in an otherwise grounded plot. The movie is also set to bring back Tim Blake Nelson as the Leader, who may introduce another superhuman element to the story. Given these super-powered foes, there is potential for Captain America: Brave New World to fall into the same final act problems as Secret Invasion, which relied on a bombastic CGI fight to raise the stakes. However, as long as the movie finds grounded ways to incorporate these characters into its political plot, there are still ways for them to elevate the film’s story rather than diminish its stakes.

Captain America: Brave New World will be released in theaters on February 14, 2025.