'Captain America 4: Brave New World' Picks Up Where Cap Left Off

The next installment of Marvel's "Captain America" series has a new name, but the same "new" Captain. Originally titled "New World Order," Captain America's fourth movie installment is now called "Brave New World." Anthony Mackie, who began his Marvel Cinematic Universe run as Sam Wilson (formerly known as Falcon) is firmly in place as the new Cap.

Mackie's Sam Wilson was an Air Force pararescue veteran before meeting the original Captain America (Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans), in 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Wilson joined the original Captain's crew as Falcon through 2019, when Rogers passed the shield to him, making Wilson the new Captain America.

In the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," the U.S. government has a different idea and passes the mantle to one of its own, three-time Medal of Honor recipient, West Point grad and Afghanistan veteran Capt. John Walker (Wyatt Russell, "Overlord").

Wilson and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), also known as the Winter Soldier, refuse to work with the government's captain in taking down a rogue group of anti-patriotic Super Soldiers called the "Flag Smashers." In the end, Walker is stripped of the Captain America title, and it's given to Sam Wilson.

With a new Wakanda-made Captain America suit, Wilson teams with Barnes (and others) to stop the Flag Smashers and defeat the bad guys. Air Force 1st Lt. Joaquin Torres dons the flight technology to become the second Falcon and Walker gets a new Captain America-like job from a shadowy operative, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"). He's now known as "U.S. Agent."

Events in "Captain America 4" come on the heels of "Endgame" and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." Mackie will return as Captain America while Harrison Ford joins the MCU as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Ross was portrayed onscreen by William Hurt through 2021's "Black Widow," but the actor died of prostate cancer in 2022.

It's rumored that Sebastian Stan will return as Bucky Barnes, but two other characters are definitely returning to the MCU for the first time since 2008's "The Hulk." Tim Blake Nelson ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") returns as Dr. Samuel Sterns and Liv Tyler ("Armageddon") will join the cast as Betty Ross.

"Captain America: Brave New World" is set to hit theaters May 3, 2024.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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