Small Details You Missed In Captain America: Brave New World

Contains spoilers for "Captain America: Brave New World"

Following the ending of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has accepted the mantle of Captain America. He's certainly proved his mettle over the years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, battling his fellow Avengers as well as Thanos' (Josh Brolin) army, but a soldier's work is never done. 

"Captain America: Brave New World" opens with Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford) getting elected as the new president. Ross (originally played by the late William Hurt) was seen previously battling Hulk (Edward Norton) in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk," and as the architect behind the Sokovia Accords in "Captain America: Civil War." He has big plans for his first 100 days in office, which includes signing a treaty for several countries to have access to the precious, indestructible metal known as adamantium that's present on Celestial Island, namely the frozen Celestial Tiamut that the Eternals prevented from destroying the Earth. But an assassination attempt on Ross upends the treaty negotiations, forcing Captain America and Falcon, aka Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), to figure out who's pulling all the strings.

The movie has plenty of blunt references to past Marvel projects. In addition to being "Captain America 4," this could technically also count as "The Incredible Hulk 2" and "Eternals 1.5." With so much being thrown at audiences, here are some details you might have missed.

There are a couple of things Thaddeus Ross is known for in the comics: He turns into Red Hulk, and he has a big, bushy mustache. William Hurt had a mustache when he played Ross in "The Incredible Hulk" and "Captain America: Civil War" before his death in 2022. But it appears Harrison Ford went in a different direction by losing the mustache, something he notes in the film by saying that he was told to either lose the mustache or lose the election. 

Apparently, the decision to lose the mustache wasn't Ford's, as he mentioned during 2024's San Diego Comic-Con (via PopVerse): "I would've grown a mustache if I was asked." Still, fans get to see a mustachioed Ford after all. Early in "Captain America: Brave New World," a old photo of Ross is shown during a news broadcast, and he, indeed, has some whiskers on his upper lip. 

It's an amusing image and an important nod to Ross' past. Besides, the real reason Ford doesn't have a mustache may come down to real-world politics, with modern American presidents not sporting facial hair since Harry Truman in the 1940s. Anyone who wants to see a scruffier Ford will need to check out "The Fugitive," where he's rocking a full beard. 

Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is probably the easiest Avenger punching bag, but seeing as he defeated Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), he deserves at least a modicum of respect. Still, it seems old grudges die hard, as he gets brought up multiple times in "Captain America: Brave New World," much to Sam's dismay. 

The first comes after Captain America and Falcon retrieve a stolen canister containing adamantium in Mexico. Joaquin asks Sam if he'll finally introduce him to Ant-Man, to which Sam emphatically responds, "Nope!" The second reference comes at the film's finale when Joaquin is talking about the hero he always admired, and Sam quips, "Don't say Ant-Man." Sam isn't dunking on Ant-Man for no reason, as MCU fans know those two have some history. 

In 2015's "Ant-Man," back when Sam was still Falcon, he actually fought the diminutive hero when he snuck into the Avengers compound to steal the signal decoy. Ant-Man actually won that fight, and Sam later recruited him to join Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) team in "Civil War." Sam may now recognize Ant-Man as a hero, but it may be a bit of a sore spot that he lost to him all these years later. 

The organization responsible for stealing the canister at the beginning of "Captain America: Brave New World" is referred to as "Serpent," led by Seth Voelker, aka Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). This is a nod to the Serpent Society featured in Marvel comics, which consists of a bunch of snake-themed villains. They've gone by other names throughout their run, such as Serpent Squad and Serpent Solutions, but in the MCU, they're simply "Serpent," and they've lost all snake-themed uniforms and power sets. Sidewinder is mostly just a guy with guns and knives. 

More than likely, dropping the "Society" and snake costumes is an attempt to make the story more grounded (or as grounded as a movie about a giant red rage monster can be). But that doesn't seem like it was always the case. It's worth noting that WWE's Seth Rollins joined the "Brave New World" cast and was spotted on set in a stylish green outfit that carries much stronger snake vibes. Before the film came out, Rollins revealed that he wouldn't appear in the finished cut due to the numerous rewrites and reshoots it underwent, some of which apparently involved retooling Serpent. 

While there are some other Serpent thugs, it's mostly just Sidewinder now, with Esposito chewing scenery any chance he gets. As good as he is, it's a letdown to see Serpent so defanged. 

Seth Rollins in Serpent Society garb isn't the only "Captain America 4" set photo to amount to nothing. Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) hasn't been seen in the MCU since 2008's "The Incredible Hulk," in which she was Bruce Banner's love interest and opposed her father, Thaddeus Ross. Throughout "Brave New World," Thaddeus mentions frequently that Betty doesn't speak with him anymore and that he wants to prove to her that he's changed. Finally, at the very end of the film, Betty appears in person to visit Thaddeus after he's been imprisoned on the Raft, which houses superpowered villains. It's a small role — and not the one we were expecting from Betty based on set photos. 

We always knew Betty would have a small role, as Tyler hinted that she only filmed a "scene and a half" for "Captain America 4." That half a scene is likely her phone conversation with her father after the incident in the Indian Sea. However, set photos showed her at a cemetery dressed all in black. This makes us think that Thaddeus was supposed to die in an earlier version of the film, and that Betty would only be seen in person during his funeral. 

More than likely, we'll never see some of these alternate scenes and versions of what "Captain America 4" could have been. Despite Marvel literally having a show called "What If...?," this movie might remain the greatest "What if" of all. 

Even before the trailers revealed that Ross would turn into Red Hulk, fans suspected it was going to happen. The movie itself plays coy with this revelation, with Ross only transforming during the finale. However, there's a slick needle drop earlier in the film that does kind of hint that Red Hulk is about to show up. 

After the Mexico mission, Sam and Joaquin go to a gym to visit Isaiah Bradley, with Carl Lumbly reprising the role from "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." A quick training montage occurs set to Tame Impala's "Elephant," a song that came out in 2012. If it feels a bit random, it may help to pay attention to the lyrics. Speaking to NME, Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker explained, "It's a song about the bully. The guy who thinks he's great. The jock." This is exemplified in lyrics like "He feels like an elephant / Shaking his big grey trunk for the hell of it." 

If anyone in "Brave New World" should feel like an elephant shaking his trunk, it's Ross turning into Red Hulk and destroying the White House. Ross is very much a bully in the film, especially once we learn he's been keeping Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) prisoner since the events of "The Incredible Hulk" and using his immense intellect and ability to see every probability for his own advantage. It's a catchy song on its own, but it's appropriate given what comes later.

As mentioned previously, the dead Tiamut contains adamantium, an indestructible metal that could be used for myriad purposes. It's no wonder various countries claim access to it, and Ross wants the United States, Japan, India, and France to sign the treaty so that they can all utilize adamantium's benefits. 

Naturally, when most comic book readers hear "adamantium," their first thoughts turn toward Wolverine of the X-Men. Wolverine was born with just bone claws coming out of his knuckles, but after undergoing experimentation via the Weapon X program, Wolverine's bones get coated with adamantium, resulting in the metal claws he's typically associated with. However, he's not the only Marvel character infused with adamantium. 

Japan is a major player in the treaty, which is home to the Marvel character Silver Samurai. In the comics, he's a mutant who can power up his blade to cut through almost any material, except for Wolverine's adamantium. In the 2013 film "The Wolverine," Silver Samurai (Haruhiko Yamanouchi and Ken Yamamura) has his armor made out of the metal. The MCU may not choose to go in that direction with Silver Samurai again, but regardless, the introduction of adamantium sets up many characters — like X-23 and Lady Deathstrike — to eventually enter the MCU.

Sam and Joaquin discover that whoever was supposed to buy the adamantium from Serpent is located within Camp Echo One. It's a completely off-the-grid military base that's not even supposed to be operating, so the duo decide to check it out and encounter Samuel Sterns, who's using it as a base of operations after being imprisoned there by Ross.

Camp Echo One was first introduced to the Marvel universe in "Champions" Vol. 2, #10 by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos. It's designed to be a containment facility to keep the Hulk calm. It was later turned into an internment camp for Inhumans, with Ms. Marvel winding up there, requiring the Champions team to rescue her.

Camp Echo One effectively becomes a prison in "Brave New World." Sam even notes that there are cells, but no one's there other than Sterns and the guards, whom Sterns has placed under mind control. With Sterns imprisoned on the Raft by the end of "Captain America: Brave New World," it doesn't seem like there would be much use for Camp Echo One in the franchise's future, unless whoever becomes the next president needs to unfairly house someone else. 

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) has a brief cameo in "Captain America: Brave New World." When Sam visits Joaquin in the hospital after getting too close to an exploding missile during the Indian Sea battle, Bucky shows up to lend some emotional support. Bucky assuages Sam's existential crisis about whether he deserves to be Captain America before bailing to head to a fundraiser. Immediately following his exit, Ruth (Shira Haas) mentions that Bucky's going to be a "future congressman," adding an interesting wrinkle to his appearance in "Thunderbolts*," which comes out on May 2. 

This may not come as too much of a surprise since the "Thunderbolts*" Super Bowl trailer shows Bucky in a congressional hearing, making it a reasonable assumption that he's getting involved in politics somehow. It does raise questions about how precisely he'll work alongside the Thunderbolts. One might imagine there will be a good amount of red tape he'll need to cut through to get his hands dirty on the field, but knowing Bucky, he probably won't care about any of that. 

Ross initially tasks Sam with putting the Avengers back together as a formal governmental organization, which Sam is reluctant to do. But by the end of the film, when he's talking to Joaquin in the hospital, he tells him to be ready. It sounds like Sam's prepared to assemble the Avengers once more outside of the government's reach, which also plays significantly into what we know about "Thunderbolts*" so far. 

The "Thunderbolts*" Super Bowl trailer seemingly spoils "Brave New World," with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) saying that the Avengers aren't coming. It's for this reason that a new group needs to form, namely the Thunderbolts. This suggests that Sam might fail in his mission to create a new team, even if it sounds like he's open to that idea by the end of his film. "Thunderbolts*" is set some time in the future, so it's possible Sam hasn't gotten around to reassembling the Avengers yet, and Valentina wants a back-up plan. 

Given Valentina's more duplicitous nature, maybe she's even aware a new Avengers team is in the works and is trying to get her team up and running before Earth's Mightiest Heroes return. Either way, we'll get some kind of new team in place by the time "Avengers: Doomsday" comes out on May 1, 2026. 

It's easy to have your eyes glaze over during the extremely lengthy credits of any Marvel movie. However, anyone paying attention toward the tail-end might notice that actor Octavia Spencer is listed under "Special Thanks." It may seem like an odd inclusion, since her only Marvel work to date was a small role in 2002's "Spider-Man," but there's a good reason why she's there. 

It turns out Spencer played a part in getting director Julius Onah the gig directing "Captain America 4." Anthony Mackie revealed in an interview with Blackfilmandtv.com, "Octavia calls me, and I'm like, you know when Octavia calls you know it's something going on, so I'm like, 'What's up, girl?' She was like, 'Mackie, you know my friend is up for your movie, and you better get him the job 'cause if you don't, I'm coming to New Orleans and this and that.'" Mackie added that he spoke with Onah and was impressed with how much he wanted to explore the character of Sam Wilson. 

Spencer worked with Onah on his previous film "Luce" and must have liked working with him so much that she campaigned to get him on "Captain America 4." It's nice to see her getting a shoutout in the credits for believing in Onah's talents. 

In the "Captain America: Brave New World" post-credits scene, Sam visits Samuel Sterns, who's also locked up on the Raft and delivers a very vague, cryptic threat. He warns that Sam and other heroes are so concerned for their world that they're not looking toward other worlds. Sooner or later, he says, Earth's heroes will encounter "the others," which helps tie "Captain America 4" into the larger Multiverse Saga. 

Marvel has had plenty of ups and downs over the years, especially when it comes to the next overarching threat in the MCU. It was going to be Kang and his many variants, but that's dead in the water. Instead, Marvel has cast Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom and changed 2026's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" to "Avengers: Doomsday." It's all leading to 2027's "Avengers: Secret Wars," which — if it has a similar plot to the comics — will send a bunch of heroes to Battleworld, which consists of remnants from numerous destroyed realities. The "others" that Sterns talks about are probably other heroes who will wind up on Battleworld along with those we know from the MCU's sacred timeline. 

Rather than fighting a bunch of Kangs, the Avengers may fight other heroes from alternate realities, perhaps even bringing back actors as characters who existed before the MCU. We might also see alternate versions of heroes we know, with one rumor suggesting that Chris Evans could return as a villain instead of Captain America (although Evans denies he's in "Doomsday"). Ultimately, Sterns' warning is vague enough that it might mean nothing — other than to get people excited for two new "Avengers" movies coming out in the near future.