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Captain America: Brave New World’s big theatrical release is just days away, and if you’re like me, you’re feeling nervous about it. Gone are the days of excitedly shuffling into the movie theater with your popcorn bucket, ready to be swept up in the MCU’s latest offering. After several suspended projects, a handful of critical bombs, and a number of scrapped storylines chilling by the wayside, Marvel has to earn back our trust. One way it can do that is by not making the same mistake so many took umbrage with in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Clearly, I’m talking about Wanda Maximoff. More specifically, about the way Wanda’s storyline in Multiverse of Madness undermined her (much more compelling) storyline in the Disney Plus series WandaVision. Thankfully, Brave New World’s director, Julius Onah, flat out said we don’t have to worry about Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) suffering from the same case of storytelling-itis as Wanda.
In speaking with Vanity Fair, Onah touched on Sam’s arc in the upcoming movie, and no, it doesn’t include grappling with his identity as the new Captain America. Why would it? Sam already overcame that struggle in the six-episode Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
“That question has been resolved,” Onah said of Sam’s previous conflict. “Sam is our Captain America now. He’s our hero.”
It shouldn’t feel refreshing to hear a director acknowledge the natural order of storytelling, but when the last two MCU films starring a character from a Disney Plus show saw their storyline all but forgotten, a sigh of relief is warranted. I’m referring to Wanda in Doctor Strange 2, yes, but also Nick Fury in The Marvels. Then again, even Kevin Feige would probably like to forget Secret Invasion.
Elizabeth Olsen’s turn as Wanda aka Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2 has become a sore spot for fans, and rightfully so. The character is one of the most popular in the franchise, with the nine-episode WandaVision series cementing that fact with its airtight writing, nuanced storytelling, and heartfelt character progression. The devolution of Wanda’s arc in DS2 has been harped on enough, but for the sake of hammering home a point, let’s harp some more.
Once the dust settled, Olsen admitted the writers of DS2 hadn’t known about Wanda’s storyline in WandaVision before penning the script. A little communication between teams would have solved that issue, but what use is communication when you have spackle and spit to cover up your mistakes? I hear it fixes everything. And so, the Scarlet Witch spent the better part of two hours running around the multiverse killing anything that moved to get back her kids, Tommy and Billy.
Olsen has said she’s willing to return to the character as long as the “smartest writers” are on the scene. In other words, Wanda may be dead, she may not be dead, but if she does come back — and she likely is — can the inhabitants of Earth-199999 not pretend like she didn’t just turn evil in Doctor Strange 2? Please and thank you.
So, that leaves us with Brave New World, set to debut this Friday, Feb. 14. I’m glad we can put Sam’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier arc to bed. The country needs Cap more than ever. That means don’t expect to see Sam and Joaquin Torres playing tug-of-war about who wore the Falcon moniker best. Actually, they might still do that, but at the very least Sam won’t be turning into Dark Cap or insist he doesn’t want to take up the mantle as Cap, because — and I don’t think this can be stressed enough — we’ve seen that show before.