The Pulse-Pounding Concerns Surrounding MCU’...

Steve Rogers has faced some significant threats throughout his MCU tenure, but there is a lot more reason to be concerned for the new Captain America.

As Captain America: Brave New World approaches, there is a lot more reason to be concerned for Steve Rogers’ Captain America replacement in the MCU. Captain America: Brave New World will be Sam Wilson’s first solo movie and the first time that he appears on the big screen under the titular mantle once held by Wilson’s friend, Steve Rogers. As his appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier established, Wilson has particularly big shoes to fill, and not just in terms of proving himself worthy to carry the shield.

Details for the plot for Captain America: Brave New World were expanded recently as footage of the movie was aired during CinemaCon. This showed Harrison Ford in his role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, now president, as he interacted with the new Captain America. This gave way to some action as an assassination attempt on the president came in the form of mind-controlled soldiers including Isaiah Bradley, who was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. This snippet alone shows that Sam is up against a particularly fearsome threat.

Sam Wilson Will Face A Different Threat Than Steve Rogers

The footage revealed at CinemaCon does depict one stark similarity between Sam Wilson’s solo debut and Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the form of an adversarial super soldier. Yet instead of just one (the Winter Soldier himself), Sam and the President’s security detail brawl with a host of enemies, with one of them being enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum. With Bucky Barnes posing a significant threat to his fellow super soldier, Steve Rogers, Sam is immediately on the back foot as he is not a super soldier himself.

Throughout Sam Wilson’s MCU appearances, he has proven capable of going toe-to-toe with some hefty threats, including his fellow Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, where he fought Spider-Man, Vision, War Machine, and Iron Man. Still, with these arguably being the biggest threats Falcon has faced, the fact that nobody intended to fight to the death means that Falcon could very well be out of his depth when it comes to murderous super soldiers. He is, after all, only human – and Steve Rogers struggled enough with both Red Skull and Bucky Barnes.

Compounding this threat is the greater one that is controlling Bradley’s mind. The Captain America sequel is unlikely to simply have Cap face-off against yet another Super Soldier as he did in Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With the confirmed cast for Captain America: Brave New World including Tim Blake Nelson, this is a worrying sign for Sam Wilson’s solo outing.

Captain America: Brave New World Footage Teases A Powerful Version Of The Leader

The Winter Soldier program included the brainwashing of several agents to have them fight for the Soviets against their political enemies. Something similar seems to have occurred with Isaiah Bradley, as his attempt on the President’s life was not his own volition. The fact that Tim Blake Nelson will be appearing means that he will likely be portraying The Leader – a powerful telepath whose intelligence has no upper limit in a similar vein to Hulk’s anger, thanks to the gamma radiation his brain received in The Incredible Hulk.

The Leader, therefore, is a far greater threat than a Super Soldier – and Sam Wilson is presumably the one to go up against him solo. Without Steve Rogers’ strength and agility afforded by the Super Soldier Serum, this puts Sam in an especially precarious position against an enemy who can use telekinesis, telepathy, and whatever creations his unbridled intelligence has manifested. Whatever the case, it will certainly make Captain America: Brave New World all the more compelling as Sam is one especially imperiled underdog.