6 Burning Questions About Captain America: Brave New World: Is This A Sequel To The Incredible Hulk?

Captain America: Brave New World marks Anthony Mackie's first go as the titular hero on the big screen after his character, Sam Wilson, inherits the mantle from Chris Evans' Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame.

As such, I stepped into my cinema hall on Thursday night (Feb 13) expecting to watch the fourth instalment of the Captain America franchise.

Imagine my surprise when I realised I was actually watching a sequel to 2008's The Incredible Hulk — you know, the one with Edward Norton in the lead — instead.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

If you're someone who has only seen the Captain America and Avengers movies, you will definitely feel lost watching Captain America: Brave New World. The movie revisits major plot points from many past projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — some of which either had nothing to do with Captain America or were released almost two decades ago.

For instance, The Incredible Hulk — which viewers will definitely need to watch in order to understand half of what's going on — was released when George W Bush was still president of the United States.

So if you left Captain America: Brave New World feeling more confused than anything, here's your guide to understanding the movie's characters and plot points.

1. Which MCU movies/TV shows should I watch to understand Captain America: Brave New World?

In addition to the previous Captain America and Avengers movies, you absolutely need to watch The Incredible Hulk. Brave New World reintroduces many characters from this movie and deals with the consequences of their actions.

Then, we have 2021's Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Comprising six episodes, the show introduces many of Brave New World's supporting characters and shows how Sam Wilson fully became Captain America and that his vibranium-made suit was a gift from the Wakandans. 

This project is essentially the connecting link between Avengers: Endgame and Brave New World.

It's not an absolute must to watch Eternals. However, this movie answers the question of why there is a Godzilla-sized island sticking out of the Indian Ocean.

After all is said and done, some of you might understandably not want to watch 12 hours of content just to comprehend a 118-minute-long movie.

So here are the rapid-fire questions and answers for the time-conscious folks.

2. Who is the guy with the huge head?

That man is Samuel Sterns, played by actor Tim Blake Nelson. Sterns last appeared in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. An online friend of Bruce Banner, Sterns was helping Banner get rid of his Hulk persona. 

However, he was secretly experimenting on Banner's blood for his own research.

Long story short, Sterns later received a gash on his forehead (courtesy of The Abomination) and Banner's blood accidentally entered his wound — causing it to swell, setting him on the path to becoming the villain in Brave New World.

Nelson isn't the only returning Hulk alum — another cast member shows up in the end of Brave New World.  

3. Why is this guy so strong?

Introduced in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Isaiah Bradley was one of the many soldiers who was experimented on and injected with attempted recreations of the Super Soldier serum.

However, Bradley's version of the serum was the only one that worked. His other teammates were slowly dying from theirs and they eventually got caught by enemy forces. Fearing that their experiments would come to light, Bradley's superiors attempted to destroy the enemy's campsite entirely.

As such, Bradley defied orders and infiltrated the enemy base to free his friends. He eventually succeeded but his fellow soldiers ended up dying anyway due to the imperfect serum.

Thereafter, Bradley was put in prison for 30 years.

After being freed, Bradley stayed hidden but he later became friends with Sam Wilson.

4. Why is there a huge giant island popping out of the ocean?

Called Celestial Island in Brave New World, the island is actually the remains of the celestial Tiamut —  introduced in 2021's Eternals.

Through his birth, Tiamut was supposed to come out of the Indian Ocean and bring about the destruction of the Earth. However, thanks to the efforts of the Eternals, his birth was halted — leaving only a section of his body visible. It's also home to... see the next question. 

5. Why does adamantium sound so familiar?

Brave New World shows many countries fighting for adamantium — a new metal found on Celestial Island. 

If you're wondering why it sounds so familiar, that's because adamantium isn't exactly new in the Marvel Universe (but it is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It gets mentioned a lot in the X-Men movies (Wolverine's bones are coated with this indestructible metal), back when then-20th Century Fox owned their rights.

Now that the rights are reverted to Disney, Marvel Studios is gradually introducing the X-Men and other X-Men-related characters into the MCU sandbox — in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Prof Xavier!), The Marvels (Beast!), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Madripoor!), and of course, last year's Deadpool & Wolverine. 

6. Why is Harrison Ford in the movie?

Although Brave New World marks Ford's first time in the MCU, his character Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross has been a franchise veteran. Ross' nickname is also the moniker for a group of supervillains in the next Marvel movie, Thunderbolts*, out May. But that's another story for another time. 

Ross was previously played by the late William Hurt, first in The Incredible Hulk, followed by Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and Black Widow. Following Hurt's death in 2022, the role was recast with Ford.

Captain America: Brave New World (PG13) is now in cinemas.

The original version of this story first appeared in CNA Lifestyle.

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