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Captain America is back — but a new man is carrying the shield.
Anthony Mackie stepped into the role for the first time on the big screen in Captain America: Brave New World, which was released in theaters on Feb. 14. The movie marked the first time he helmed the mantle after his 2021 series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which saw his character, Sam Wilson, grappling with the pressure of becoming the new Captain America following Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) death in Avengers: Endgame.
Now, Mackie is joined by his very own Falcon, Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres), and his pal, formerly wrongfully incarcerated Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). After a successful mission in Mexico, Wilson is invited to the White House to make amends with the newly elected president, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford taking over for the late William Hurt), who previously tried to limit the Avengers’ power.
However, he’s met with a vengeful villain, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) who is hellbent on making Ross suffer in the way he has — and there’s little Wilson can seemingly do to stop it.
So how did Captain America: Brave New World end? Here’s everything to know about the movie’s final scenes — and what was teased in the post-credit scene.
Warning: Captain America: Brave New World spoilers ahead!
How did Captain America: Brave New World end?
Throughout the movie, the mind-controlling Sterns implies something (literally) big is going to happen with President Ross — and it won’t be his death, as Wilson previously thought. Torn between wanting to serve his country and his personal issues with Ross, Wilson struggles to pinpoint where his loyalties lie and who to fight for.
As it turned out, Stern was slowly poisoning Ross with gamma rays through pills for years, steadily turning him into the monster he and Bruce Banner (or the Hulk) are themselves. So when Ross turns into the Red Hulk, Wilson knows he must step into action to protect both the president and the American people.
The scene culminates in the destruction of the White House and quite a few cherry blossom trees as Wilson leads Red Hulk away from civilization and into a remote area. The two battle it out, and after losing one of his wings, Wilson attempts to appeal to Red Hulk’s humanity — in a classic Captain America moment — in order to bring him back down to the life-size Ross.
The trick works as Wilson reminds Ross of who he’s fighting to be a better man for: his daughter. After Ross reverts back to himself, the movie pans to sometime later when the former president is imprisoned on The Raft, which is, ironically, the same facility for super-powered individuals that he locked up Wilson and his pals — old Captain America, Hulk and Black Widow — in during Captain America: Civil War.
Wilson comes to visit Ross and informs him that his treaty went through, and adamantium, the element that four countries were fighting over, will now be equally shared between the U.S., Japan, France and India, as Ross hoped.
Further, he brings with him a special guest: Ross’ daughter, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). The two reconnect in a happy ending for Ross and Wilson leaves to deal with presumably bigger issues.
What happened to Samuel Sterns and Isaiah Bradley at the end of Captain America: Brave New World?
Sterns turns himself in in order to put in motion his final hurrah: turning Ross into the Red Hulk. He greets Wilson outside of the hospital where Ramirez is getting surgery following an incident on a mission and warns him of his last plan. As agents arrest him and pin him to the ground, Stern calls out that Wilson won’t be able to win against the monster he created.
However, Captain America, as always, prevails and he goes on to save his friends. After being put in solitary for his attempted assassination of the president, Bradley’s name is cleared and he is, once again, set free, with Wilson delivering on his promise. He returns to his training studio where he’s now struck up a friendship with the new Falcon, who Wilson teased may be welcome into the new Avengers now that his surgery has gone successfully.
Is there a post-credit scene in Captain America: Brave New World?
Per usual Marvel fashion, there is a post-credit scene in Captain America: Brave New World. However, there is only one, rather than the usual two, and it is at the very end of the final credits.
In the scene, Wilson once again is at The Raft, but this time he’s visiting Sterns, who gives him a warning of an ominous future to come.
“We share the same world, don’t we? This world you would die to save? It’s coming,” he says. “I’ve seen it in the probabilities. Seen it plain as day. All you heroes protecting this world, you think you’re the only ones. You think this is the only world. We’ll see what happens when you have to protect this place … from The Others.”
The moment then fades to black with the words “Captain America will return.” However, it is unclear what Sterns’ warning applies to as a number of movies are in motion that may feature extraterrestrial beings.
What’s next for Marvel and the Avengers?
Up next for Marvel is May’s Thunderbolts, which features a rag-tag group of antiheroes who are being marketed as an alternative to the Avengers. However, Sterns’ warning in the post-credit scene more likely applies to July’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps which takes place in a different universe in Marvel’s “Sacred Timeline.”
More likely, Sterns was setting up the future Avengers movies, with Avengers: Doomsday set to be released in May 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. The former features Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — not as the beloved Iron Man (who is dead), but as supervillain Dr. Doom.
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