Captain America: Brave New World Confirmed to be Retconning Israeli Superhero as Former Black Widow – IGN

Amid the hype surrounding the release of the first Captain America: Brave New World trailer, Marvel Studios quietly confirmed some key details surrounding the inclusion of a controversial character from the comics.

An official story posted on Marvel.com contained the following info about Ruth Bat-Seraph, whose inclusion in the MCU was previously confirmed back in 2022.

New to the cast is Shira Haas, who joins as Ruth Bat-Seraph. A former Black Widow, Ruth is now a high-ranking U.S. government official who has the trust of President Ross. Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, and Xosha Roquemore also star.

The new info confirms some significant changes from the comics, where Ruth is a mutant named Sabra, an Israeli superhero and an agent of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. The character has long been controversial owing to her connection to the Israel-Palestine conflict — a controversy that has taken on even greater significance recently due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Ruth is played by Israeli actress Shira Haas, who was first cast in the role in 2022. She has previously appeared in movies including Asia and The Zookeeper’s Wife, as well as the Netflix series Bodies.

When Marvel confirmed the casting back in 2022, a representative told Variety in a statement, “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics. They are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”

Notably, the Marvel description explicitly refers to the character as Ruth rather than Sabra, which the New York Times among others have noted is connected to a refugee camp in Lebanon that was the site of a massacre of thousands of Palestinian civilians in 1982. Noting the change, one Reddit commenter wondered, “So why did they use Ruth if she’s not gonna be Sabra instead of just using an original character? It would’ve saved them a lot of headache.”

IGN has reached out to Marvel Studios for comment.

Elsewhere, the Captain America: Brave New World trailer revealed other notable details, most notably the first appearance of Red Hulk. Fans also think they have figured out Giancarlo Esposito’s MCU role. For more, check out all the rest of the Marvel projects set for 2024 and beyond.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.