Sam Wilson is not Steve Rogers, and that might be the best thing America has going for it in Captain America: Brave New World. The film’s latest promo brings the country to the brink of all-out war exactly when it thinks it’s about to establish lasting peace. And while Steve Rogers was noble and brave, he was also naive and trusting. He saw the best in everyone. A plot this sinister requires a hero who knows how dangerous his own homeland can be.
We love Sam Wilson and we love everything we’ve seen from Captain America: Brave New World so far. This looks like it might be the most intense entry in the Captain America franchise yet. Not even The Winter Soldier featured the destruction of the White House. Nor did any previous Presidents in the MCU turn into a big red rage monster. A lot of bad stuff is going down, and it looks like Giancarlo Esposito’s Seth Voelker is going to be at the center of it.
But as much as even this one trailer seems to reveal, we’re only getting a fraction of the real plot. Things are going to be even worse than they seem. And our bet is Tim Blake Nelson’s returning Samuel Sterns will be heavily involved. The fact we have yet to see him makes us fear him even more.
Fortunately Sam has help from an old friend who has taken up his mantle as the Falcon. This teaser offers our best look yet at Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres in his new superhero role. He’s feeling it in his new, colorful Falcon suit and we can’t blame him. The good news is Sam’s Captain America suit also looks so much better than the one he wore the last time we saw him on Disney+.
Ultimately, though, this trailer makes it clear that America won’t need Sam to look great to save it. For that it’ll need him to see the truth about his own country even if no one else can. That’s why it’s a good thing he’s not Steve Rogers.