Marvel Made Two Big Changes To Captain America 4's Most Controversial Character

Sam Wilson's filmic debut under his new rank might be taking center stage in "Captain America: Brave New World," but many eyes will be on a supporting character who's making their MCU debut in the upcoming movie as well. Among the small details found in the star-spangled trailer of Marvel's next big movie, there is an appearance from Emmy nominee Shira Haas, who will be playing Ruth Bat-Seraph, better known in the comics as Sabra, Marvel's first Jewish superhero.

Back in 2022, Marvel teased plans for Sabra, and after the announcement was met with social media backlash, Marvel stated, "While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today's audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago." 

These adjustments now seem to include omitting the character's superhero name, as the Marvel announcement accompanying the trailer mentions only the name Ruth Bat-Seraph. Sabra, besides being a name given to a person born in Israel, is also the name of a refugee camp that was massacred in 1982, leading to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians at the hands of a militia, with Israel Defense Forces surrounding and not intervening. Additionally, Bat-Seraph's backstory of being a former Mossad agent will now instead be that of an ex-Black Widow turned U.S. government agent. Understandably, given the volatile past and present associations with the character, fans have spoken out about her inclusion in a film that is already rife with issues.

Even with these alterations, given the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, fans of the franchise are unhappy. Voicing their concerns on X (formerly Twitter), pro-Israel fans have been quick to call out Marvel for erasing the character's identity from the comics, while Palestine supporters are announcing plans to boycott the film because of the character's inclusion.

As with every Marvel movie, regardless of how much scoopers might manage to dig up on cameos and schedules of future films, the plot details for "Captain America: Brave New World" have been kept quiet. This includes the involvement of Haas' character, who, while briefly teased in the trailer, may not be much of a presence in the final edit. If that is the case, Haas wouldn't be the only one, as drastic alterations have been made to the filming of Wilson's upcoming mission that have seen a team of villains wiped off the slate entirely.

Rumors in 2023 revealed that following a disastrous test screening, "Brave New World" underwent major reshoots, with rumblings on social media saying the planned villain team, the Serpent Society, was being removed. Factoring this in, there's still no telling if the critical cuts and amendments to the project could include Haas' character, given the immense, vocal outcry about the project. For now, we'll have to wait and see how the final product looks when "Captain America: Brave New World" arrives in theaters on February 14, 2025.