‘We’ve never seen it in the MCU before’: Captain America 4 director Julius Onah explains why Brave New World isn’t just a rehashed version of The Winter Soldier

Captain America 4‘s creative team deny it’s a rehashed version of The Winter Soldier
Fans have routinely compared the films due to the similarly political thriller vibes
Brave New World‘s director and producer say there are big differences between the two movies

Captain America: Brave New World isn’t just a carbon copy of the story and themes that were explored in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

That’s the verdict of Julius Onah and Nate Moore, who directed and produced Brave New World, respectively. Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the Marvel movie’s launch this Friday (February 14), the duo responded to those who have compared Captain America 4 to the film series’ second installment. Unsurprisingly, they don’t agree that Sam Wilson’s first big-screen outing as the titular hero is a freshly painted version of The Winter Soldier.

Comparisons between the films are to be expected. The pair are billed as action thrillers with more than their fair share of political paranoia, star the iconic shield-wearing Cap, and examine timely, real-world themes including misinformation and empathy for your fellow man.

Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers standing with their hands on their hips in Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Sam Wilson (left) inherited the Captain America mantle from Steve Rogers (right) (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Onah and Moore, though, reject the notion that the fourth Captain America flick retreads old ground. They argue that, with a new character assuming the titular mantle – Anthony Mackie’s Wilson has replaced Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers – and Brave New World‘s unique storytelling elements set it apart from its three Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) forebears.

“In many ways, this is the first Captain America story because it’s the first with Sam Wilson,” Onah told me. “The privilege of being able to tell this story is that I don’t have to retread old ground.

Sam has to figure out how to work as Captain America with the President of the United States
Julius Onah, Captain America 4 director

“He’s a guy who’s got a different superpower. He’s not equipped with abilities in a conventional sense – his superpower is his heart and his empathy. It’s that desire to connect with other people and his history as a counselor of army veterans. It’s something that’s really embedded in him since he was introduced to the MCU. So, the question was ‘How do we put him [Sam] in a unique situation that pushes him forward?’. If we do that, we’re also pushing forward Captain America.

“That’s what I loved about making an action thriller that has a paranoia element to it,” Onah continued. “It’s a story of mistrust of individuals and of institutions. So, when you take a guy who implicitly wants to trust people and see the best in them, and put him opposite somebody like Thaddeus Ross [played by Harrison Ford], who Sam mistrusts because Thaddeus broke up the Avengers [in Captain America: Civil War] and put Sam in prison, Sam has to figure out how to work as Captain America with [Ross as] the President of the United States, which is a situation we’ve never seen before in the MCU.”

Echoing Onah’s response in a separate interview for the Marvel Phase 5 film, Moore said: “The way that Steve approaches an issue is much different than the way that Sam approaches one.

“To some degree, the first three Captain America films were about a man out of time who’s trying to figure out where he fits in the modern world and, whether he’s dealing with Ross, Tony Stark, or Nick Fury, how different his perspective is with the modern perspective on espionage.

“In this movie, Sam is trying to figure out why he’s not let into rooms that others have been let into in the past,” Moore continued. “I don’t know that Sam gets to move through the world in the same way that Steve did. He’s not a super soldier but he’s inhabiting this role of a man who’s beloved, revered, and, to some degree, feared. Now, even though I think that Sam finds himself questioning people in higher positions for the same reason that Steve did, Sam has to blaze his own trail and better understand his place in the MCU, which I think makes it a different film.”

Before Brave New World flies into theaters, you’ll want to get the biggest and latest information on it. My Captain America: Brave New World hub rounds up all of that, while my Captain America 4 cast and character guide reveals who you’ll see in one of 2025’s new movies and which characters they’ll portray.