In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new hero now wields the shield—Sam Wilson. Captain America: Brave New World hit theaters on February 14th, 2025, making it a perfect Valentine’s date night movie. Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, was given the shield after the first Avenger, Steve Rogers, went back in time to get his old life back and retired in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Wilson, previously Falcon, was good friends with Rogers. After being given the shield, Wilson and Rogers’s old friend Bucky Barnes trained to take on the mantle of the new Captain America with a few bumps in the show, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021).

Now fully stepping into his new identity, Captain America works alongside the U.S. government, completing missions using both his Falcon wings and iconic shield. However, Wilson faces several struggles—he isn’t the super-soldier Steve Rogers was, nor does he possess the strength-enhancing serum. Additionally, he faces skepticism from others and racial discrimination for being a Black man in the role. Indian Hills junior Jack Janazzo, who watched the movie, comments, “I enjoyed the movie. I do like Sam Wilson as Captain America, but I do think Steve Rogers was better.” Still, Wilson embraces these challenges, proving that while he may not be Steve Rogers, he is Sam Wilson—and he is the new Captain America, whether people like it or not.

For years, Captain America’s shield—made of vibranium—was believed to be the strongest metal on Earth. However, after the celestial Tiamut emerged in the Indian Ocean, a new, even stronger metal was discovered: adamantium. This revelation sparked international conflict, with the U.S., India, France, and Japan all vying for control over the island where Tiamut rests. Unlike the other nations, the U.S. sought to broker a treaty to share the resource. Thaddeus Ross, now the President of the United States and played by Harrison Ford, worked tirelessly to secure this agreement—but he soon found himself facing an unexpected threat.

In the 2008 movie The Hulk, the supervillain Samuel Sterns was exposed to gamma radiation, which made him extremely smart but made his head grow unpleasantly large. In Brave New World, Ross experiments on Sterns to see how smart he could become. As Ross starts dying, though, he attempts to abandon this brutality and begs Sterns for an antidote, which he accepts. To get his revenge on Ross, Sterns, now known as “The Leader,” played by Tim Blake Nelson, attempts to start a world war and ruin Ross’s reputation by turning him into a gamma freak with the gamma radiation he put into the pills.. 

As chaos unfolds, Captain America and his ally, Joaquin Torres—the new Falcon, played by Danny Ramirez—rush to prevent war by stopping mind-controlled U.S. Air Force pilots from launching an attack. When Wilson discovers that Ross has unknowingly ingested gamma-infused pills, he races to stop the inevitable transformation. But it’s too late. Overcome by rage, Ross mutates into the monstrous Red Hulk. After an outmatched battle of brute strength, Captain America came out on top using his mind’s strength and reaching Ross’ heart, even if it was trapped in a big red monster.