Marvel has announced that the fourth Captain America movie will have a different title than originally planned and the wheels in my mind began turning. The first title was New World Order, which has a horrible context in our world, though it does have a comic book connection. The new title gets a similar message across without the historical connotation. Captain America: Brave New World is something that instantly brought up thoughts of a book I loved in school.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (which was turned into a show for Peacock not that long ago) is a look into the world of government control and fake happiness for the “betterment” of society as a whole. Applying those ideas to something like a Captain America story? Now that has me interested. Not that I wasn’t before; I’m very excited about Anthony Mackie’s first standalone film as Captain America alongside the introduction of Harrison Ford as Thunderbolt Ross, but still, the New World Order title was doing more harm than good.
The last we saw of Sam Wilson, he finally took on the mantle of Cap. At first, he didn’t want the shield that Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) gave to him. But when John Walker (Wyatt Russell) used what the shield stood for to his advantage in a destructive way, it was time for Sam to take it back. He did so with flying colors and now we get to explore his time as Captain America. If Marvel pulls from the messaging of Brave New World? All the better. There will be people in Sam Wilson’s world who don’t want him in charge, and those people are probably the United States government—especially since John Walker was their idea.
Pour one out for Aldous Huxley
For a simple explanation of the novel’s themes, Sparknotes describes Brave New World as being about “the dangers of giving the state control over new and powerful technologies.” You know what would be a “new and powerful” technology for the state to control? Superheroes. We’ve seen it time and time again as Cap has pushed back against the government. One of the defining moments of Captain America: Civil War is when he refuses to sign the Accords that Tony Stark is pushing on him.
It’d be right in line with Captain America as a symbol for Sam Wilson to fight back against the government. He’s done it before, and refusing to listen to the United States government and men like Thunderbolt Ross is exactly what I want from a movie like Captain America: Brave New World. I don’t think it will fall entirely on Sam’s shoulders given the rumored cast for the film, but I do think that this title change is for the best.
Whether or not Brave New World is a nod to the Huxley novel, I think the themes from the book still apply to a Captain America story, and I hope that they use it to their advantage.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
