Spoiler alert: This article discusses the ending of Captain America: Brave New World.
Following a significant hiatus, Captain America: Brave New World marks Marvel’s return to the big screen. Surprisingly, the film features only one post-credits scene, but it significantly impacts the future of the MCU. The scene sets the stage for the upcoming 2027 film, Avengers: Secret Wars.
The scene depicts Anthony Mackie’s Captain America visiting Tim Blake Nelson’s villainous Samuel Sterns at the Raft, a high-security prison. Sterns, whose enlarged brain is a result of exposure to Bruce Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood (a detail from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk), possesses the ability to calculate probabilities. Essentially, he’s a supervillain version of a political pollster.
Sterns ominously suggests the existence of parallel universes, questioning whether our universe is unique. He hints at a future conflict involving these alternate realities.
This clearly points towards a multiverse conflict. The Avengers—reformed after years of adventures following Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross’s call for a new team—will face Avengers from other timelines. Prepare for Captain America to battle alternate versions of himself.
Marvel has been subtly hinting at this storyline for some time. The 2027 film, Avengers: Secret Wars, is based on a comic book arc depicting the collapse of all parallel universes, resulting in “Battleworld,” a planet where various MCU heroes and villains from different timelines clash.
This storyline could reset the MCU, potentially introducing new actors to iconic roles (with rumors circulating about Michael B. Jordan potentially portraying a parallel universe Black Panther). Characters previously absent from the main MCU, such as the Fantastic Four and X-Men, could be introduced. The upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps this summer, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine’s return in 2024’s [Film Title Missing], both hint at the possibility of parallel timelines converging with Captain America’s world. Even some retired MCU actors could potentially return, with rumors of Robert Downey Jr. possibly reappearing not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom, possibly via a parallel universe storyline.
The concept of parallel universes and inter-dimensional conflict isn’t entirely new to MCU fans, or, hopefully, to Captain America. Several MCU characters have already traversed timelines.
For instance, Doctor Strange created a portal allowing different Spider-Men from other universes to team up with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in [Film Title Missing]. Strange further explored the multiverse, encountering other versions of himself in [Film Title Missing]. Ant-Man also encountered a villain, [Villain Name Missing], who battled multiple versions of himself from alternate timelines.
One wonders about the lack of communication between these superheroes. Doesn’t Doctor Strange inform his allies about potentially dangerous doppelgangers? Didn’t Ant-Man alert the other Avengers about his encounter with a villain suggesting the existence of countless universes filled with terrifying versions of himself?
The Avengers need better coordination before facing this multiverse threat. President Ross tasked Captain America with rebuilding the team in Brave New World. Perhaps Sterns’ ominous warning will motivate Captain America to do just that. The probability of the Avengers reassembling is quite high.
