Captain America: New World Order director Julius Onah explains how the upcoming MCU film will test Sam Wilson's leadership abilities. After Chris Evans first made the role of Captain America his own back in the MCU Phase 1, Avengers: Endgame saw the hero pass the baton to Anthony Mackie's Wilson. Mackie, who was first introduced back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, has since become a staple of the MCU, even appearing in his own Disney+ series with last year's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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Plot details for Captain America: New World Order remain under wraps, but Onah, who previously directed The Cloverfield Paradox for Netflix, was confirmed to be directing the film earlier this summer. At Disney's recent D23 Expo, it was revealed that Tim Blake Nelson's character from 2008's The Incredible Hulk will serve as one of the film's central villains. Filming for Captain America: New World Order is expected to begin early next year, with a release date slated for the spring of 2024, right at the end of MCU Phase 5. Outside of casting announcements, Onah has also revealed that the world of Captain America: New World Order will be very different from the world of Evans' Captain America films, taking place firmly in the post-Thanos MCU.
In a recent interview with ET at D23, Onah reveals that his new Captain America film will test Wilson in ways he's never been tested before, namely his ability to lead. In contrast with Wilson's other appearances in the MCU, the upcoming film will explore how Wilson handles guiding others, with the action and the story built around testing his limits. Check out Onah's full comment below:
“We’re really testing him. And now that he’s taken the mantle of Captain America, he’s really going to question what it means to lead. And all the action and all the emotionality of the story is really built around him answering that question. His values are going to determine so much of what’s going to happen moving forward. We’re putting that to the test in this film.”
When Wilson was first introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he played a supporting role to Steve Rogers, acting more as a sidekick than anything else. This would more or less continue to be the case for the character in future MCU films, including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Although The Falcon and the Winter Soldier more fully explored Wilson as a character and whether he truly wanted the responsibility of being the new Captain America, the series was still presented mostly as a two-hander, with Sebastian Stan's Bucky playing the second lead.
Onah's comment suggests that Wilson's days as a sidekick or a supporting character are fully at an end with Captain America: New World Order. It remains to be seen what the plot of the new Captain America film is about, but it seems like fans will finally get to see Wilson as a true leader in the same way that Evans' Rogers was during his tenure as the hero. Although Wilson has long been a fixture of the MCU, he's never been tested in quite this way before, suggesting Captain America: New World Order could usher in a new era for the character and the MCU at large.