“She’s just a genuinely kind, incredibly talented human being,” Julius Onah says of Octavia Spencer, who starred in his 2019 movie ‘Luce’.

Octavia Spencer doesn’t appear in Captain America: Brave New World, so why did director Julius Onah thank her in the end credits?

As Onah, 42, tells PEOPLE, Oscar winning actress Spencer, 54, is simply a “great supporter of his work” as an actress and a friend. The pair previously worked together on his 2019 movie Luce, in which she portrays a high school teacher who develops an unnerving conflict with one of her students. Her name is included under the “special thanks” section of Brave New World‘s credits, alongside five members of Onah’s family, the Stan Lee Foundation and Marvel icon Stan Lee’s daughter JC Lee.

“Octavia’s the greatest,” Onah says. “I’m such a fan of hers, and when the conversation was being had about this film, she put in some kind words for me with Kevin Feige and had spoken to [Anthony] Mackie as well. She’s just a genuinely kind, incredibly talented human being, and I wanted to really acknowledge what a great supporter she’s been of me and other filmmakers in the past. There was no way I was gonna miss the opportunity to say thank you to her.”

Octavia Spencer and Julius Onah on Jan. 27, 2019.

With Brave New World, Onah directed Mackie, 46, in the star’s first full-fledged movie as Captain America. His character Sam Wilson picked up the shield from Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and more formally assumed the role at the end of the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The movie also paired Onah with an onscreen hero of his in Harrison Ford, whom Onah describes as “mind blowing” to get to work with.

As for what Onah has on his plate after Brave New World, the director tells PEOPLE he and another Luce actor, Kelvin Harrison Jr, plan to film a movie later this year in which Harrison Jr., 30, would star as 20th century American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Anthony Mackie and Julius Onah on Feb. 13, 2025.

Mackie’s character is expected to return for the two forthcoming Avengers movies. Meanwhile, Onah also teases future collaborations with Captain America star that may take the pair away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations about jamming again with Anthony,” he says. “There’s things that he and I both wanna do together that don’t necessarily involve a shield, but he’s an actor I just respect and admire so much. So one way or another, he and I will be tag teaming again.”

Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters now.