Captain America: Brave New World Must Address A Key Secret Invasion Storyline

Captain America: Brave New World is one of the most highly anticipated projects in Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, finally putting Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson at the forefront of his own film. The upcoming movie, set to hit theaters in February of 2025, will follow the new Captain America as he strives to protect his country–and the world–from the rising threat of the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) and the villainous Serpent Society. In the process, he runs afoul of the new President of the United States, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, with Harrison Ford stepping into the role after William Hurt’s death. As it stands, the fourth Captain America film is set to redefine the non-cosmic side of the MCU.

Marvel recently gave fans their first look at Brave New World, building anticipation for the upcoming project. As high as hopes are for Sam Wilson’s first solo movie, viewers are also understandably hesitant to get too excited about Captain America 4 given Marvel’s recent dip in quality. Nevertheless, Brave New World has the opportunity to reverse this unfortunate trend and win back Marvel fans. However, to do so, it must acknowledge one of the recent MCU projects that generally disappointed viewers, the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. While the series is largely considered to be one of Marvel’s worst entries in the Multiverse Saga, Secret Invasion‘s ending includes a massive shift in status quo that cannot be ignored in Brave New World.

The United States Went To War At The End Of Secret Invasion

In the infamous ending of Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and his legion of Skrull terrorists finally launched their full-scale attack on humanity. This included Gravik using the Harvest to become the first Super-Skrull, harnessing the power of dozens of Avengers in the process. While G’iah (Emilia Clarke) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) eventually managed to defeat Gravik and his goons, the damage was already done. Skrulls had officially made themselves known to the most powerful leaders in the world, including some who had been unwittingly replaced by alien imposters years earlier. Although the plot for the Skrulls to take over the Earth was foiled, it became immediately clear in Secret Invasion‘s finale that the shapeshifting aliens and humans could no longer coexist in peace. This leads President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) to declare war on any alien currently living on Earth.

Other Marvel projects have ignored Secret Invasion‘s storyline, despite the major effect that it should have had on the MCU. Most notably, The Marvels included Nick Fury as a central character and even revisited the Skrulls as they worked to establish a new homeworld. In all this, not a single reference is made to the events of Secret Invasion, despite the film coming out only a few months earlier. What could have been an excellent opportunity for Marvel to show off the cohesive storyline for which it was so well known in the Infinity Saga instead became an example of just how loosely connected each new project is from the rest. An event as monumental as the United States going to war cannot be ignored for much longer.

Captain America: Brave New World Needs To Address Secret Invasion’s Ending

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Brave New World will follow Sam Wilson’s Captain America as he attempts to put together a new Avengers team at the behest of President Ross, Ritson’s successor. Given the new President’s inclusion in the film, Brave New World has backed itself into a corner when it comes to addressing Secret Invasion‘s “Alien War” storyline. It would be a major oversight for Marvel Studios not to include some connection between Brave New World and Secret Invasion–one from which the franchise may not recover. Instead, the Captain America sequel absolutely must include some update on what has occurred since Ritson declared war. While this could be difficult to shoehorn into a film that appears to be largely grounded, a continuation of Secret Invasion‘s ending could benefit Brave New World.

President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is a well-established character in the MCU, with his first appearance going back to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Audiences know that, while Ross generally has the greater good in mind, he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to do what needs to be done. As such, he seems like the perfect wartime president for the United States at this stage in its history. Unafraid of making enemies, Ross would wage an all-out war on any aliens, just as his predecessor intended. This would undoubtedly throw the world into disarray as alien establishments like New Asgard struggle to fight off U.S. forces. Moreover, this would give Sam Wilson a good reason to be uneasy about Ross’s presidency, starting the two characters off on a note of suspicion and thereby heightening the tension between them for the rest of the film.

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If done correctly, Secret Invasion‘s ending could culminate in the MCU’s next big Avengers crossover. Marvel has had very few constant throughlines in its projects since Avengers: Endgame and is therefore in dire need of a crossover that brings together the storylines of multiple recent projects. However, tracing the mounting tensions between aliens and humans through Secret Invasion, Captain America: Brave New World, and another future project or two could finally right this wrong. With relations between aliens on Earth and humankind worse than they have ever been, the world seems to be on the brink of a major war. Much to viewers’ delight, Secret Invasion and Brave New World could perfectly set the stage for an MCU adaptation of the 2010 Siege event from Marvel Comics.

In the immediate aftermath of Secret Invasion in the comics, Norman Osborn rose to prominence during the Dark Reign storyline. In Siege, the culmination of Dark Reign, Osborn used his power to build his own team of superhumans, the Dark Avengers, and attack New Asgard. The stage is set for this exact storyline to play out in the MCU. With New Asgard already established on Earth and the United States at war with aliens, it would make sense for President Ross to set his sights on the most prominent alien civilization on the planet. He may even use the Thunderbolts, set to debut in their own feature film next year, to accomplish this mission. This would give the MCU the Avengers-level crossover that the Multiverse Saga has so desperately been lacking, tying together the loose ends of multiple projects into one cohesive story.

Captain America: Brave New World has the potential to improve the MCU greatly by progressing the last lingering storyline from Secret Invasion. If executed properly, the upcoming film could lend itself to a larger overarching narrative that would adapt one of the most famous Marvel Comics events from the last twenty years.

Captain America: Brave New World

The upcoming fourth movie in the Captain America franchise.

Director

Julius Onah

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Cast

Harrison Ford , Sebastian Stan , Rosa Salazar , Liv Tyler , Anthony Mackie , Tim Blake Nelson , Danny Ramirez

Writers

Dalan Musson , Matthew Orton , Malcolm Spellman

Main Genre

Superhero

Studio(s)

Marvel Studios

Distributor(s)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures