Captain America 4 Is Now Captain America: Brave New World

It's a longstanding tradition that Marvel movies remain in flux for the vast majority of production, undergoing tweaks and even major changes right up until the last possible minute — and sometimes, as was the case with 2012's "The Avengers" and the filming of the shawarma-centric post-credits scene, even extending beyond the world premiere of the movie. It's not typically the case that this method applies to the actual title of one of these films, however, which are usually announced years ahead of time and locked down for marketing and branding purposes. But it seems like the next "Captain America" movie is in for a bit of a change.

Previously announced to immense hype at last year's San Diego Comic-Con as "Captain America: New World Order," the Anthony Mackie-starring sequel will now be known under a slightly different — and less controversial — title. Earlier this morning, Marvel announced (via Variety) that the fourth film in this series has now been rebranded "Captain America: Brave New World." This comes after a fair amount of backlash in some corners over the provocative subtitle, which certainly has its roots as a fairly commonplace phrase in both world history and pop culture at large, but has since become co-opted as a dog whistle for insidiously antisemitic rhetoric by right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists.

Marvel also released a new behind-the-scenes image from the set featuring Mackie and the perpetually-grumpy Harrison Ford actually cracking a smile, which you can see below.

Well, consider that a bullet dodged. Given the fourth film's symbolic and political importance as the first "Captain America" film to feature a Black man in the title role, with Mackie's Sam Wilson stepping in for the now-retired Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), it's pretty self-explanatory why the studio would want to steer clear of any such volatile implications with its title — however unintended they may be. Compared to the conspiratorial tone set by "New World Order," "Brave New World" strikes a far more optimistic perspective, doubling as a commentary on the future of the famous superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as a statement on some very overdue representation. In fact, it's almost perfect enough to make one question why anyone thought the original subtitle would be a good idea in the first place ... but at least Marvel got to the right answer eventually, right?

In any case, it's probably a sound PR move to immediately shift the narrative with a new image of Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie yucking it up on set of the film. /Film previously reported the shocking news that the legendary star had been cast as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, stepping into the shoes of the late William Hurt. Now, we have visual proof that they actually wrangled Ford onto the set and even managed to let him have some fun, too. Brave new world, indeed!

The fourth "Captain America" film follows up on the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," starring Mackie, co-star Sebastian Stan, and practically the entire cast of Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk." But breathe easy, Marvel fans: the release date remains unchanged. "Captain America: Brave New World" is still scheduled for release on May 3, 2024.