Captain America: Brave New World’s Poster Has More Meaning Than You Think

When Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters next February, it marks a brand new era in the MCU. It also marks a brand-new era for Captain America, one of the most lore-heavy heroes in all of Marvel Comics, thanks in part to his being one of the most long-running characters in the books. There will be a new Cap in the form of the man formerly known as The Falcon.

With that new era comes a brand-new way of telling stories featuring Captain America while also introducing new villains like the Serpent Society and the Red Hulk. However, while this might be a new start for the character and the next phase of the MCU, Marvel wouldn’t be Marvel if it didn’t go out of its way in celebrating its history while marching into the future. As it turns out, the company might have found a way to send a message about how it is celebrating its history in a rather subtle way that all but the most dedicated comic book readers might have missed.

Captain America: Brave New World Poster Isn’t Just Cool

First and foremost, the post is obviously very cool, and it does show one of the big conflicts that has been featured plenty in trailers and teasers for Brave New World. But when looking at the way the Red Hulk’s fist is crashing up against Captain America’s shield, there’s quite a bit more behind it than just a cool look. It turns out that the poster looks like it was heavily influenced by the cover ofCaptain America comic issue #230.

It would have been a cool enough call back if Marvel had gone back and found a cover where Captain America is fighting The Hulk in order to put together the movie poster. But it seems as if there is even more meaning from the artwork than that. Brave New World‘s poster looks like it’s deep diving into some serious Cap lore.

Not only does the issue of the movie poster show something that goes pretty heavily into Hulk lore, but it’s also one that is pretty important for the comic book storyline of The Falcon. And in fact, this issue ties the two characters together, which is certainly quite interesting.

Why Captain America #230 Is Significant

Over the course or Marvel history, Falcon and Captain America were attached at the hip for quite a while. The character of Sam Wilson aka Falcon was first introduced in Captain America #117 and made an appearance here nad there in subsequent issues. However in #133 he become a mainstay of the book and became Cap’s chief partner in crime fighting. While the book was still just titled Captain America, Falcon was a co-lead of the book series for the next 100 issues until he was suddenly written out of the story entirely in Captain America #217 and instead of continuing to be Cap’s partner he was put in charge of a group known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Super Agents.

This is also where things got a bit strange for Falcon and Cap. The Captain America book went through a period where different writers picked it up and then left it alone, meaning that stories, including Falcon and his Super Agents team were mostly completely ignored.

The Return Of Sam Wilson

It wasn’t until Captain American #228 that someone realized it had been a long time since Falcon appeared in an issue and finally set to work reuniting the two as Cap also suddenly realized he hadn’t heard from Sam in quite a while. When he went to go and talk to one of the Super Agents, it became obvious quickly that something was wrong and that Falcon wasn’t just away on a mission but was actually missing.

The next two issues have Cap trying to find his old friend and figure out what happened. Finally, in Captain America #230, he is found and rescued after being kidnapped by an evil company known as The Corporation. When readers finally see Falcon unconscious and tied up in issue #230, it marks the first time in over a year that he’d made it into a Captain America comic.

It seems hard to imagine that whoever decided to use that artwork for the Captain America: Brave New World poster knew that and chose it from that issue for any reason other than it’s a cool picture from a comic where Cap is battling The Hulk. If it was unintentional then it was just a heck of a coincidence. If it was done on purpose, then fans should be quite impressed by the understanding of the history of those comics books from a generation ago. Either way that there is any real significance at all is quite an interesting little tidbit for Marvel fans to know as they wait for February and the movie to hit theaters.

Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titled New World Order) marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers’ successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.

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