Captain America: Brave New World Is Making Me Rethink Civil War in a Major Way

The Marvel Cinematic Universe loves to revisit moments from earlier in the franchise. Despite Iron Man 2 featuring no connections to Spider-Man, it turns out that Peter Parker is present at the Stark Expo, and Tony Stark even saves him from a Hammer Drone that isn’t looking to take prisoners. However, not all of the major retcons happen off-screen, such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier confirming that Bucky Barnes is responsible for the death of Tony’s parents. But The Winter Soldier‘s retcon has nothing on the major one from Captain America: Brave New World, which changes the events of Captain America: Civil War in a massive way.

Beyond Sam Wilson, Brave New World‘s biggest connection to Civil War is Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who becomes president in the 2025 movie. His rise to power isn’t as straightforward as it seems, though, as there’s someone behind the scenes who’s pulling the politician’s strings.

Thunderbolt Ross’ Actions Are Not His Own During the Infinity Saga

Ross’ MCU debut comes in The Incredible Hulk, where he’s hunting Bruce Banner. He recruits Emil Blonsky, a decorated member of the British Royal Marines, to his cause, and they get to work. The duo corners Banner at a college, but after he turns into the Hulk, there’s no stopping him. Blonsky suffers serious injuries, which is a massive blow to his ego. So, when he runs into Samuel Sterns, who has been working with Banner’s blood, he forces the scientist to inject him with the dangerous substance, turning him into the Abomination. Unfortunately, Sterns doesn’t get away scot-free, being exposed to the blood during Abomination’s escape.

Sterns’ whereabouts remain a mystery until Brave New World, when he kickstarts a plan to show the world who Ross really is. It turns out Ross found Sterns after the attack on Harlem and threw him in a black site where he could use him for various projects. Ross’ main objective was to heal himself of an illness, but when it became clear to Sterns that his captor was never going to let him out, the villain changed course. While his career was taking off, Ross was slowly turning into a Hulk, the very kind of creature he had hunted for years. However, Sterns may have caused even more damage by supplying Ross with an idea that tore the Avengers apart.

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The Leader May Be Responsible for the Sokovia Accords

Brave New World makes it clear that Ross uses Sterns’ superhuman intelligence to weigh different options when he’s in a tough spot. After Harlem, the only big conundrum for Ross is the creation of the Sokovia Accords in Civil War. He doesn’t believe the Avengers can operate on their own anymore because of all the damage they leave in their wake, so he brings Tony Stark the idea to have everyone register with the United Nations. Tony’s all for it because he feels guilty about his past transgressions, including creating Ultron. Steve Rogers, on the other hand, wants to be able to choose his missions without government interference.

The moral debate pushes both Iron Man and Captain America to the edge, and the two heroes create new teams to fight one another. Ross is in the middle of all of it, wanting to bring in Steve and his group as soon as possible to end the conflict. He doesn’t get his wish, of course, with Steve getting away and making up with Tony before Helmut Zemo shows them the tape of Bucky killing Maria and Howard Stark. The revelation makes things worse, and we find that the Avengers are splintered when Thanos and his Black Order roll into town in Avengers: Infinity War.

Ross clearly didn’t intend to leave the Earth near-defenseless when he pushed the Sokovia Accords. Still, there’s a scenario where Sterns came up with the idea and understood the ramifications of the political decision. After all, Brave New World‘s post-credit scene reveals that he’s smart enough to know that the multiverse is becoming more and more of a threat, which isn’t even in the same ballpark as breaking up Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

So did Zemo best the Avengers? Or was it really the Leader all along? Did Samuel Sterns create the Sokovia Accords for Thaddeus Ross? What other MCU events do you think he was involved in? Let us know in the comments below!

Captain America: Brave New World is streaming on Disney+.