Captain America: Brave New World is indeed the beginning of a new world for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). We don’t say this because we have a new action hero in the form of Anthony Mackie. We say this as the film has brought back a couple of films that appear to be going into the lost books of the MCU, Eternals (2021) and The Incredible Hulk (2008). It tells us that nothing truly is lost, well, at least in this universe.
The Julius Onah film was released on Valentine’s Day but fans and critics didn’t give it the love the team might be expecting. It’s currently at 50% love on Rotten Tomatoes and 60 percent on IMDb (6/10 ratings) at the time of writing. From The Incredible Hulk, we have Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), aka the Leader, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), and Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), aka the Red Hulk. From the Eternals side, we have the giant Tiamut’s lifeless body, now called the Celestial Island.
Captain America: Brave New World is Definitely a Sequel to The Incredible Hulk
Don’t let that name mislead you. While there might not be an official announcement saying ‘a direct sequel,’ the Julius Onah film is indeed one to The Incredible Hulk. Everything that’s happening appears to be the direct effect of different causes from the 2008 movie. Sterns’ finally got that much-needed screen time, succeeding in his motives as he destroyed Ross’ reputation for good.
Then we have Thaddeus Ross, who was finally introduced to us with his fiery alter ego, Red Hulk. Though he remains one core link bridging the gap between the two films. Although it was played by William Hurt in the first place before being replaced by Harrison Ford following the actor’s demise in 2022, the character remains the same and the link is obvious.
Finally, in a small cameo, we (and Ross) got to see his daughter Betty as she paid him a visit in the Raft while being accompanied by Wilson. Her return to the MCU after 17 years is sure to spark a debate regarding her relationship with Bruce Banner (now played by Mark Ruffalo). Last we checked, Banner had a son, namely Skaar, whom he introduced to his family in She-Hulk, but where has she been all this time?
Tiamut Was Supposed to Destroy the Earth But He Will be Protecting It
Tiamut the Communicator from Eternals sure made headlines in Captain America: Brave New World as the entire world was seen looking to grab a piece of this now-adamantium pie in the film. He was supposed to bring destruction to the Earth and the Eternals were the key to it, way back in The Eternals. But then they got attached, and then they had to stop this gigantic birth called The Emergence.
The official MCU debut of adamantium finally puts that particular discussion to bed, and it will be a force to be reckoned with wherever the vibranium is mentioned in the MCU. But the point here is that adamantium is something that the Earth needs more than ever as we prepare for a multiversal threat in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Captain America: Brave New World may not end up being the smash hit Kevin Feige and Marvel were hoping for, but it stands as a point in time that can be looked back upon. A point in time that shows nothing is truly forgotten in the MCU, and perhaps we can look forward to closing off other seemingly forgotten threads in the future.
For more Thumb Wars Film coverage, check out if Chris Evans is still playing Captain America or maybe you want to know who’s the real leader pulling strings in Thunderbolts*.
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Anurag Batham is a Writer at Thumb Wars zeroed in on video games but will also throw himself up on anything in association with anime and cinema. As with his favorite video games, give him anything with a linear story, be it Call of Duty or Braid, and he will be happy. He think of stories as food and wants to feed his readers something nutritious, food for thought.
