Captain America: Brave New World is the 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like any Marvel movie, it has connections to earlier MCU entries. But if you’ve not caught up with the other MCU TV series and films, you might be a little lost while watching Brave New World. Don’t worry! We’re here to help you make sense of things.
Here are five of those MCU connections explained, in case you need a recap.
1) Sam Wilson is Captain America
Brave New World serves as a follow-up to the Disney+ streaming series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which featured a team-up between Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). By the end of the series, Sam makes his debut as Captain America in a custom-made suit. This pays off the ending of Avengers: Endgame, in which Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) passed his shield on to Sam.
Meanwhile, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) becomes the new Falcon, acting as Sam’s partner. Brave New World sees Sam face scepticism about his ability to succeed Steve as Captain America. He gets help from the Wakandans via a fancy new suit made of Vibranium, which he needs because, unlike Steve, he does not possess super soldier serum-augmented abilities.
2) President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross
Comics readers know Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (Harrison Ford) as one of the recurring antagonists of Bruce Banner/the Hulk. Thaddeus is also the father of Betty (Liv Tyler), Bruce’s long-time love interest — a fact that complicates Thaddeus’ relationship with her.
The character was introduced into the MCU in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, played by the late William Hurt. Brave New World revisits several plot points from that movie, and Thaddeus is the most significant character to return from it, but not the only one.
Hurt reprised his role in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow before his death in 2022. By Civil War, Thaddeus had retired from the US Army and became the Secretary of State. Hurt never got to portray Red Hulk, Thaddeus’ alter ego. Ford steps in, and in Brave New World, his character becomes the President of the United States — and finally transforms into his crimson, beastly persona.
3) Isaiah Bradley
Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) is a Korean war veteran who was experimented on against his will by the US government and injected with the super soldier serum. The ‘forgotten Captain America’ was introduced into the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, serving as a mentor to Sam. In the series, Isaiah finally received official recognition by way of an exhibit honouring him at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The character returns in Brave New World, serving as the heart of the movie. He is invited to attend the Celestial Island (see next point) Summit at the White House alongside Sam and Joaquin, but tragedy strikes when Isaiah attacks President Ross out of nowhere and is captured and imprisoned. Over the course of the movie, Sam uncovers a conspiracy and confronts the mastermind who framed Isaiah and other members of the military for the attack.
4) Celestial Island
In Eternals, it was revealed that planet Earth hosts Tiamut, a dormant Celestial, which is a being of immense power in the MCU. The Eternals formed the Uni-Mind, averting Tiamut’s birth and saving the world. Tiamut, now turned to stone, sticks out of the Indian Ocean. Post-Eternals, Tiamut has only been referenced by way of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter egg in the series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (an article headline reading “Why there is a giant statue of a man sticking out of the ocean” is visible on a website).
Brave New World finally tackles the — literally — monumental development, with Tiamut’s remains officially dubbed ‘Celestial Island’. President Ross attempts to ratify a treaty that will determine how several nations share access to the precious resource discovered on Celestial Island: Adamantium. Marvel fans will recognise this as the metal that is bonded to the bones of the X-Men member Wolverine. (Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has teased that X-Men characters will appear in the “next few” MCU films. Several characters from the X-Men movies were recently confirmed to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.)
5) The Leader
The shadowy villain in Brave New World is revealed to be Samuel Sterns/the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson), who was introduced in The Incredible Hulk and hasn’t been seen since. An early clue that Samuel is behind the scenes is the song “Mr Blue” by The Fleetwoods, which is used to trigger Isaiah and the other military personnel’s attack on President Ross. This is an allusion to the codename ‘Mr Blue’, which Samuel used to communicate with Bruce (who was, in turn, ‘Mr Green’).
Bruce’s gamma-irradiated blood dripped onto Samuel’s head, transforming his brain — hence his grotesque appearance in Brave New World. Samuel has been working for President Ross in secret for 16 years and has tampered with the latter’s medication for his heart condition, eventually triggering the latter’s transformation into Red Hulk. Samuel is later captured and imprisoned in the Raft, the floating prison first seen in Civil War. In the post-credits scene, he hints that threats from other worlds are inbound, alluding to a multiversal incursion that will likely happen in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, due for release in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Text: Jedd Jong
Images: © 2025 MARVEL