When Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige announced the lineup for Phases 4, 5, and 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a fourth Captain America film wasn’t the biggest headline of the day for most fans. While many fans have enjoyed seeing Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson take on the mantle of the Captain America, the departure of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers from the MCU has been a loss that many feel the franchise has yet to recover from.
As the months have passed since that big announcement, little by little we’ve learned more about Marvel’s plans for a fourth Cap movie and with each new tidbit, the excitement around the film has grown. For many Marvel fans, Captain America: New World Order (as we now know the title to be) is quickly becoming the most anticipated MCU project outside of the upcoming Avengers movies.
So what exactly do we know about this movie so far? We’re here to give you the rundown and get you caught up on why many fans are now expecting Captain America: New World Order to be as big an event as Captain America: Civil War was back in 2016.
A New Captain
Captain America: New World Order will pick up where the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier left off, with Sam Wilson now taking on the shield and title of Captain America (plus a nifty Wakandan-made flight suit) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as an upstanding member of society having gone through therapy to make amends with those he harmed in his days as the Winter Soldier.
The film will also feature other members of the cast of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, including Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres (a.k.a the new Falcon) and Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, the forgotten super soldier.
Incredible Hulk 3?
In the same way that Thor: Ragnarok became a de facto sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: New World Order is shaping up to be the third cinematic installment in the story of Marvel’s angry green goliath.
The film will feature Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, the antagonistic general previously played by actor William Hurt who tragically passed away in 2022. Ford will first appear as the character in Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts in 2024.
Joining Thunderbolt Ross from the Hulk family of characters will be Tim Blake Nelson, who appeared in The Incredible Hulk as Samuel Sterns, better known in the Hulk comic books as the supervillain Leader. This week we also learned that Liv Tyler will also be appearing in the film as Ross’ daughter and Bruce Banner’s one-time girlfriend Betty Ross.
Behind the Camera
Captain America: New World Order began filming in March of 2023 with director Julius Onah at the helm. Onah is perhaps best known for directing 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox, the third film in the Cloverfield franchise, but has also written and directed two other films which each received critical acclaim – The Girl is in Trouble in 2015, and Luce in 2019.
The screenplay for New World Order comes from writers Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, the lead writers behind The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The film is currently slated for release on May 3rd, 2024.
