Marvel Studios is no stranger to adapting stories straight from the comic book pages, especially with upcoming projects like Avengers: Secret Wars and previous installments such as Captain America: Civil War. While they’re usually not direct one-for-one adaptations, comic book influences can be found in all Marvel movies, even ones that aren’t named after specific arcs. Captain America: Brave New World flies into theaters on Friday, February 14, and the film is set to be rich with inspiration from Marvel Comics.
Although the film isn’t retelling a specific comic, it’ll pull elements from multiple different Marvel books from over the years. Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah and executive producers Kevin Feige and Nate Moore revealed to Agents of Fandom Editor-in-Chief TJ Zwarych at the global press conference for the film, moderated by ESPN’s Kelley Carter, which comics influence the story.
Red Hulk Is a Relatively Recent Addition to the Comics
“Well, clearly, in the comics, Thunderbolt Ross has been a character for many, many decades. There is a story where he became president, and the Red Hulk. Those were the primary source.”
-Kevin Fiege on Captain America: Brave New World‘s comic book influences
Feige is referencing the 2021 Hulk comics by Donnie Cates, Ryan Otley, and Frank Martin Jr., which take place in an alternate reality, Earth-122, where Thunderbolt Ross becomes president and devastates the Earth with gamma bombs. However, it’s unlikely the world gets destroyed by gamma bombs in Captain America: Brave New World.
While the presidential origins of the MCU version of Ross may have come from a more recent comic, executive producer Nate Moore reveals Brave New World takes inspiration from a Steve Rogers story from the 1970s that pits Captain America against the U.S. government.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Is Influenced by 1974’s ‘Secret Empire’
There’s a run from 1974, Steve Engelhart’s Secret Empire, that we sort of took some inspiration from. In that case, it was an allegory for Watergate, but it was Captain America butting heads with the president. We pull a lot from different parts of comic history, because there’s so much great material.
–Captain America: Brave New World executive producer Nate Moore on the film’s comic influences
Although it’s another case where the film will only use certain elements and not the comic’s entire story, it’s certainly a fascinating choice to adapt. Steve Engelhart’s Secret Empire run features Steve Rogers opposing the American government as neo-Nazis are overrunning it before he eventually denounces the Captain America mantle and becomes Nomad, the man without a country.
It’s unlikely that Sam Wilson will stop being Captain America after this film like Steve does in the comic story, given it’s already confirmed he will lead the Avengers in their upcoming film. However, facing off against a corrupt president of the United States is a dangerous enough task, especially when they’re a rampaging Hulk.
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