New details have been revealed about Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World, and one could have a huge impact on the MCU’s mutant debuts.
Marvel Studios’ upcoming Captain America: Brave New World will introduce a new mutant to the MCU, and this debut may suggest the existence of mutants isn’t as secret as was first thought. Marvel Studios confirmed the development of Captain America: Brave New World shortly after the finale of Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which saw Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes team up against the super soldier Flag Smashers. Set to release in February 2025, Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World will mark Sam Wilson’s theatrical debut as the MCU’s new Captain America.
While Captain America: Brave New World’s cast includes familiar MCU faces, including Betty Ross, Joaquín Torres, Isaiah Bradley, Samuel Sterns and Thaddeus Ross, the Phase 5 project will also debut an exciting new character. Shira Hass joined Brave New World in September 2022, and the Israeli actor is set to portray a version of Marvel Comics’ Ruth Bat-Seraph, a.k.a. the mutant Sabra. Sabra was a controversial addition to Captain America: Brave New World due to her work with the Israeli Secret Service, the Mossad, but her backstory has been changed for her live-action debut, though this raises even more questions.
Sabra Works For The United States Government In Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel Studios’ presentation at 2024’s CinemaCon revealed more information about 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World. As well as providing a first look at Sam Wilson’s new Captain America costume and Harrison Ford’s President Ross, and confirming new story details about the upcoming espionage-themed project, Shira Haas’ role in Captain America: Brave New World was also touched on. Entertainment Weekly reported that Sabra will be working for the United States government in Captain America: Brave New World, steering her away from controversy amid real-world current events in the Middle East, but this confirms something previously unknown about the MCU’s mutants.
The MCU’s Mutants May Be The Government’s Best-Kept Secret
So far, only a handful of mutants have been confirmed to exist in the MCU’s main timeline, including Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Namor, and several lesser-known characters in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Marvel Studios’ integration of mutants into the MCU has been slow, suggesting that the citizens of the world don’t yet know about the existence of this new species, but the reveal of Sabra being an agent of the United States government in Captain America: Brave New World changes this perception. It may now be the case that the government actually does know about mutants.
It seems unlikely that Sabra would be working for the United States government without them knowing about her mutant ability. Of course, the government could simply believe she is “gifted”, without knowing about her mutation, but it could also be the case that the government have known about mutants for some time, and have been keeping their existence quiet. Sabra’s ability to transfer life energy to others, and gift them low-level superpowers of their own, would be a huge asset to the United States government, and could be key in the events of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
Mutants Working For The Government Would Change The MCU’s X-Men Debut
Marvel Studios hasn’t yet revealed much about how the mutant superhero team the X-Men will be brought into the MCU, but the team’s highly-anticipated debut may be drastically different if the United States government know about the existence of mutants. If the X-Men are already operating in the MCU, it’s possible the government already knows about them, and is perhaps keeping their actions secret from the wider world. With a mutant on the payroll, it also seems likely that the government wouldn’t look too harshly on the X-Men functioning as a superhero team, as they are already accepting of Sabra.
Despite being confirmed to be in development, Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot doesn’t yet have a scheduled release date, so it’s unclear when this team will actually make their MCU debut. However, Captain America: Brave New World could begin laying the foundations for the X-Men to appear, and may even feature President Ross mentioning the team long before they grace the screen. Ultimately, Marvel Studios may have made an excellent choice by making Sabra an agent of the United States government, as this avoids any undue controversy surrounding the hero, and massively expands the idea of mutants existing in the MCU.
