Are UAE fans ready for a fresh start with 'Captain America: Brave New World'?

Dubai: Tobey Maguire to Tom Holland (Spider-Man). Ioan Gruffudd to Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic). Wesley Snipes to Mahershala Ali (Blade). Chris Evans to Anthony Mackie (Captain America).

As life hurtles forward, so do Marvel’s often unpredictable film franchises, recasting our favorite superheroes and often leaving us undecided as to how to react. 

 In a now unforgettable scene from Avengers: Endgame (2019), Captain America (Chris Evans) passes on his shield to Falcon (Anthony Mackie). 

 Mackie embraced the shield and its responsibilities at the culmination of the mini-series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), which takes the events of Avengers: Endgame forward; he’s now poised to be the newest Captain America on the big screen. 

 Are we really ready for this major superhero actor switch?

Thankfully, fans in the UAE don’t have long to wait to find out. The first Captain America film with Mackie in the lead role, Captain America: Brave New World, will release in cinemas across the country on February 13.

 With Chris Evans being the face of one of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes since Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), both loyal audiences and box office results hang precariously in the balance with the release of Captain America: Brave New World. 

But who knows, perhaps Marvel’s latest Captain America installment will swing us fans into new and exciting cinema territory, and rake in the money too. 

After all, this is the first Marvel film to feature veteran Hollywood star Harrison Ford. He plays Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, a former military officer now serving as the President of the USA, as well as his menacing alter-ego, Red Hulk. 

And while the whereabouts of Chris Evans’ Captain America alter ego Steve Rogers - since the events of Avengers: Endgame - remain shrouded in mystery (one we hope unravels soon), Mackie becoming Captain America on the silver screen could certainly bring a freshness to this vintage superhero’s adventures. 

In Captain America: Brave New World, Mackie’s Captain America finds himself embroiled in a dangerously escalating situation with Ford’s Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, amidst the backdrop of a global threat. 

 “Watch yourself. You’re not Steve Rogers,” Ford snaps in the thrilling trailer, to which Mackie coolly responds, “Right, I’m not.” 

 Chris Evans was cast as Captain America after playing Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films, while Mackie debuted as Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and continued to play the character in several films as well as a mini-series, before taking on the might of his first big screen role as Captain America. 

 It seems inevitable that superheroes will continue to change, or transition, and maybe we Marvel fans just have to roll with the times, and embrace a ‘Brave New World’. 

Don't Miss It!

Captain America: Brave New World is out in UAE cinemas on February 13

Enid Parker is a UAE-based journalist.