‘Captain America: Brave New World’: Director Julius Onah Talks Spoilers, False Reports Of On-Set Drama, Reshoots & Harrison Ford [The Discourse Podcast]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe gets a fresh jolt of paranoia and political intrigue with “Captain America: Brave New World,” a thriller that sees Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) trying to define his place as the new Captain America while dealing with international chaos, rogue superhumans and some very questionable allies. Directed by Julius Onah (“Luce,” “The Cloverfield Paradox”), the film doesn’t just bring back some familiar faces—it makes them part of a tangled political mess of past sins and present-day power plays. Tim Blake Nelson’s Leader resurfaces with a grudge, Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley adds emotional weight, and oh yeah, Harrison Ford steps into the formidable shoes of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who may or may not be hiding a very big, very angry, very red secret. 

READ MORE: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review: Sam Wilson’s Heart, Grit & Determination Trump Superpowers In Marvel’s New Conspiracy Thriller

Director Julius Onah joins The Discourse to discuss all of the spoilery details on Marvel’s latest, including what he thinks won him the director role. In his pitch, Onah sought to explore a more grounded and cerebral take on what it means to be Cap in a world without one.

“It was about a point of view more so than anything,” Onah explained about pitching the film to Marvel. “They were familiar with my last film, a small indie film called ‘Luce,’ and I first had just a general conversation with Nate Moore and Kiana Davidson at Marvel. We talked again, more generally, about theme, tone and character. And, for me, it was sort of a gut check moment, like, you’re going to go down the road with people. Are these people that you would even love to have a conversation with about movies?”

Once he received the script, Onah saw the potential to push the emotional core further, particularly in how the relationships between Sam, Ross, and Stearns (The Leader) formed the backbone of the film’s paranoia-driven thriller elements. “The fact that it was leaning into elements of being a paranoid political thriller, I felt was very organic,” he said. “You immediately trust someone who wants to connect with people in an environment where he has to mistrust people, especially Thaddeus Ross. And then with that, I thought you would have an engine for the movie that could be both character-driven and plot-driven.”

One of the film’s big surprises comes in the form of Sebastian Stan’s return as Bucky Barnes, a character whose journey has been intertwined with Sam Wilson’s. Onah explained how they experimented with different placements for Bucky in the story before landing at the right moment.

“Bucky had always been a part of the story, and it’s something we obviously denied publicly and wanted to stay quiet about so that it could be a surprise for all this, but there was no way we were gonna completely divorce these two characters from each other after ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” Onah shared. “It was just about trying to find the right way to do it. And we’d experimented with points of him coming in the beginning, in the end, et cetera. And we kind of organically landed at a place that really felt right because there were very few people who could speak to Sam and understand the totality of where he’s coming from emotionally and what it means for him to be where he is right now. Sebastian is such an incredible performer and such a great actor. I’m so grateful that I got to work with him, so proud of everything that’s happening, and excited about everything happening for him right now.”

Another major change during production involved the Serpent Society, a villainous faction in Marvel comics that transformed the film. Initially, the Society was meant to be more heightened and comic-accurate. This version included multiple characters played by WWE’s Seth Rollins and actress Rosa Salazar. Still, during additional photography, Onah and the team streamlined the group to focus primarily on Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder character for the sake of clarity and tone.

“We had leaned into a version where we were playing with a more heightened Serpent Society, and there’s no shortage of characters, personalities, and figures in this movie. So when you streamline and simplify something like Serpent Society, it was about, ‘let’s just get one character in Sidewinder who those in publishing know is the founder and one of the leaders of Serpent Society.’ We’re introducing this character for the first time and this team of villains for the first time; we wanted to simplify and make it as potent as possible. And what’s more potent than Giancarlo?”

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Esposito’s role was added during reshoots, but Onah insisted it wasn’t a last-minute cameo. “Again, it sounds maybe bigger than it is, but when you think about the number of scenes that he’s in the film and think about what the original shape of the movie is, it was simply just about coming in with particular moments to make that be the presence of Serpent Society in the film.”

With so many characters returning from ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ one prominent absence stood out—Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). With Ross, Betty, and Stearns all present, some fans expected Banner/Hulk to appear, but Onah said it ultimately came down to keeping the story focused on Sam Wilson.

“Well, I think at the end of the day, and I’m happy it landed where it did—this is Sam’s story. This is Sam’s first cinematic adventure as Captain America. And you want it to be about Sam leaning into his superpower to overcome the odds,” Onah said. “So, you pull in Banner—as great as Mark Ruffalo is and as exciting as it would be to have him—and suddenly, the focus shifts away from Sam. The conversation obviously came up, but ultimately, it felt like this wanted to be Sam’s film.”

Just before the film’s release, an anonymous report from Vulture painted the production as chaotic, with Harrison Ford supposedly being difficult on set. Onah pushed back on the claims, saying they didn’t align with his experience working with the legendary actor.

“I have no take [on the Vulture article], to be honest with you, because people will speculate about all sorts of things, especially anonymously and on the fringes. I went over to Harrison Ford’s house when he accepted the job, and you know, you’re nervous, you’re starstruck, and the guy immediately dispels that. And he pours me a drink and says, ‘Let’s get to work.’ And that’s what the guy’s about. What incredibly talented and amazing person who has done it as long as he has done it isn’t going also to work their ass off to make it great.”

“Captain America: Brave New World” also sets up future MCU storylines, including a tantalizing post-credit scene involving The Leader and hints at a larger multiversal conflict — a Battle World, perhaps? While Onah remained tight-lipped on specifics, he confirmed the scene was something they shot during additional photography once they had a clearer idea of where the MCU was headed.

“I have a general awareness of where [the larger MCU story] is going. I will continue to stay coy because that’s for everybody else to discover. But it was another thing that we did during additional photography, which again speaks to what I was getting at earlier with pencils being down [during the strikes]; that’s for everybody in the industry and certainly everybody in the MCU. So when we came back, there was more clarity with where things were going—that’s when it also felt like the appropriate time to shoot that tag.”

“Captain America: Brave New World” is now playing in theaters. Listen to the full spoiler interview below: