CAPTAIN AMERICA: Brave New World

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), now elected President of the United States, addresses a crowd to promise that they will face unprecedented threats together. News reports comment on Ross being prone to anger, the blame placed on him regarding the Hulk and Abomination’s destructive battle in Harlem, and his estrangement from his daughter Betty (Liv Tyler).

Five months later, Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) is working with Joaquin Torres/Falcon (Danny Ramirez) in Oaxaca, Mexico under Ross’s orders to go after a group of mercenaries known as the Serpent Society, led by Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). Cap tracks them down to a church, where he uses his wings and shield to aid him in combat. He dispatches the mercs and makes his way to Sidewinder, who is attempting to take hostages. After saving them, Cap is held back by fighting a larger goon while Sidewinder escapes. Meanwhile, Joaquin dons his Falcon suit to go after more mercs and intercept a package that the Serpents were going to sell to a mysterious buyer. Cap beats the last goon while Joaquin gets the package.

After reporting to Ross that the mission was a success, Sam and Joaquin go back to Baltimore to train with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). Sam later gets a call from Ross to invite him to an event at the White House, and to bring Joaquin and Isaiah. The latter expresses his doubts about Sam working for a government that has done both of them wrong in the past, but Sam tries to assure him that things are changing for the better.

The trio arrive at the event. Sam is called to meet with Ross privately to discuss the matter of restarting the Avengers as their new leader. Sam shows hesitance, especially after Ross’s handling of the Sokovia Accords, but Ross is confident the two of them can work together so things can work out differently.

Ross addresses the guests over mining being done on Celestial Island (the little bit that emerged of Tiamut from the Indian Ocean in “Eternals”), as adamantium has been discovered (which was also the package that Sam and Joaquin recovered), and Ross is in the process of negotiating a treaty to ensure trade and distribution amongst other nations. Moments later, the song “Mr. Blue” starts to play. Isaiah, plus four other men, are suddenly mind-controlled to try and assassinate Ross. Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), Ross’s security advisor/former Black Widow, takes down the other shooters while Sam tries to stop Isaiah. Sam chases him all the way to a park until Isaiah seems to snap back to normal. Despite his fears over being imprisoned again, Sam convinces him to surrender.

Sam goes to confront Ross in his bunker, leaving only them and Ruth in the room. While they believe Isaiah worked with the other men in a coordinated attack, Sam knows that he was being controlled and wants to clear his name. Ross thinks Sam is too close to the case to be involved and reminds him he is not Steve Rogers. Sam later visits Isaiah in his cell to try to help find some way to figure out what happened, but Isaiah tells Sam to just not come back because he thinks it’s a lost cause and he will die in prison.

Sam enlists Joaquin’s aid to get an idea of what happened. Joaquin checks surveillance cams and sees that Isaiah and the other men had something blinking on all their phones before the attack occurred. Sam is then ambushed by Sidewinder, who has been hired to execute him. He tries to blow up Sam’s car, but he gets out in time and fights the villain. Sidewinder tries to shoot and stab him, but Sam gets the upper hand and knocks him out, leaving him to get arrested. Sam speaks to Sidewinder’s employer, who congratulates him on his victory but promises he won’t like what’s coming next.

Ross talks to other world leaders who were caught in the crossfires of the attack. They have begun to lose faith in Ross’s capabilities as a leader, which threatens to compromise the treaty.

Sam brings Sidewinder’s phone to Joaquin so he can trace the source of the employer’s call. They are directed to an off-grid facility called “Camp Echo One” in Virginia. While they head there, Ruth witnesses a brainwashed prison guard kill the imprisoned shooters except for Isaiah, before he shoots himself in the head while “Mr. Blue” is playing. Meanwhile, the mystery villain contacts Ross and warns him that there will be a shift in power coming soon.

Sam and Joaquin arrive at Camp Echo One and use Sam’s little drone Redwing to sneak into the facility. They encounter a lab with genetic information on numerous people, including Isaiah and the other attackers. They soon meet the mastermind himself: Samuel Sterns/The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson). He plans to get revenge against Ross, and when Sam tries to fight back, Sterns uses a machine to hold him down briefly before leaving him and Joaquin to deal with hired mercs. The two take out the first group of men before being confronted by another. Ruth shows up and defeats that group before joining Sam and Joaquin. As they leave, officers arrive to arrest the guys, but “Mr. Blue” plays again, and they try to kill Sam and Joaquin. Sam throws his shield to knock them out before they and Ruth steal the officers’ van to escape.

Ross meets with Japanese Prime Minister Ozaki (Takehiro Hira), who also expresses his lack of confidence in Ross’s work as President. The ever-mounting pressure begins to build in Ross as he meets with other leaders, and his Secret Service agent Leila Taylor (Xosha Roquemore) tries to keep him calm.

Sam meets with Dennis Dunphy (William Mark McCollough), his contact in the military, to help examine some pills he found in Sterns’ lab. Sam then goes to visit Sidewinder and have him released temporarily to talk about what he knows about Sterns. After Sterns was exposed to Bruce Banner’s blood, his mind grew but he was used by Ross as a personal “think tank” by upping the gamma dosage, which caused the mutation in Sterns’ head. The hiring of the Serpents was an attempt to dismantle the treaty and cause a potential war, destroying Ross’ legacy. Before leaving, Sidewinder promises Sam that he will eventually escape.

Dunphy tells Sam, Joaquin, and Ruth that Ross and Ozaki have sent warships to claim Celestial Island. Sam finds Ross to confront him over his involvement with Sterns. After a heated argument, Ross reveals that he was dying of heart failure, and he got Sterns to develop pills with gamma radiation in them, which seeped into his bloodstream. Ross never let Sterns go for fear that he would stop making the pills.

Sterns kills an admiral and gains access to “Mr. Blue” two American F-18 pilots go after the Japanese fleet. Cap and Falcon fly into action with Joaquin ejecting one pilot, and Sam getting another out, but Joaquin is caught in an explosion and falls into the ocean. While Ross tries to get a handle on the situation, his stress and rage begin to overpower him. He is contacted by Sterns, who knows what is happening to him and is counting on Ross to lose his cool. Ruth sends a med team to retrieve him, but the Japanese pilots report back to Ozaki to let them know that Captain America saved them.

Sam watches as Joaquin is in the hospital. He is surprised by a visit from Bucky (Sebastian Stan), who gives him a pep talk when Sam doubts himself, and is also said to be in the running for Congress. Sterns later finds Dunphy after he learns about the gamma pills, and Sterns uses a device to stop Dunphy’s heart and kill him.

Ross calls Betty briefly before addressing reporters at a press conference. At the same time, Sterns finds Sam and waits to be arrested, but not before revealing the last part of his revenge plan, which is to expose Ross as the “monster” that he is. Ross starts to get more and more distressed and irritated by the reporters’ questions, until Taylor and the other SS agents try to escort him back into the White House. The gamma in Ross’ body starts to activate and his rage takes over, turning him into RED HULK. The agents try to shoot at him, to no avail. Cap flies in to stop Red Hulk, leading to a showdown that destroys part of the White House. Red Hulk also takes down two choppers that try to shoot at him.

Although Cap gets a few strikes in at Red Hulk, he tears Cap’s wings and damages his suit. Sam lures him to the cherry blossoms where Ross would visit with Betty to try and trigger his memories. He uses his shield to absorb the impact of Red Hulk’s attack and causes a huge wave that knocks them both back. Before Red Hulk can attack again, Sam talks him down and reminds him of Betty. This causes Ross to turn back to normal, and he surrenders as authorities arrive.

Isaiah is exonerated and released from prison, reuniting with Sam. The White House is being rebuilt. Sam visits Ross at The Raft where he is locked up, and Ross is visited by Betty. Sam then goes to visit Joaquin at the hospital, where he admits to Sam that he was his inspiration to be a hero.

After the credits, Sam goes to see Sterns at The Raft, where the villain warns him that he has seen probabilities that indicate that threats from other worlds and universes will attack this world.

After taking up the mantle of Captain America, Sam Wilson is asked by the newly elected President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross to restart the Avengers as their new leader. Ross addresses guests at an event to inform them of a treaty being negotiated between the U.S. and other nations after adamantium is discovered on Celestial Island (the remains of the Celestial Tiamut). Isaiah Bradley, who attended with Sam and Joaquin Torres/Falcon, is mind-controlled along with four other men to try and assassinate Ross. Sam chases Isaiah down, where he is arrested. Ross orders Sam to stay off the investigation because he is too close to Isaiah.

Sam and Joaquin work with Ross' security advisor, Ruth Bat-Seraph, a former Black Widow, to find out who is behind the plot against Ross. After Sam is attacked by Sidewinder, leader of the Serpent Society, he fights and subdues him before using Sidewinder's phone to track down his employer. Sam and Joaquin find Camp Echo One, an off-site facility in Virginia operated by Samuel Sterns/The Leader, who was mutated after being exposed to Bruce Banner's blood and was kept by Ross at Camp Echo One to conduct experiments for him. Sterns plans to ruin Ross' legacy by dismantling the treaty and potentially starting a war. He also hired the Serpents to acquire the adamantium.

Sam learns that Ross kept Sterns around because Ross was dying of heart failure, and Sterns developed pills with gamma radiation to help him. Sterns mind-controls two F-18 pilots to attack a Japanese fleet as the U.S. and Japan make attempts to claim Celestial Island. Cap and Falcon stop the attack, but Joaquin is critically injured and hospitalized. Sam is visited by Bucky, who gives him a pep talk to get him back to finish his mission.

Ross gives a press conference while Sterns finds Sam before turning himself in. He lets Sam know that the last part of his plan involves everyone seeing Ross as a literal monster. The gamma in Ross' blood causes him to turn into Red Hulk. Cap fights him, causing some of the White House to be destroyed. Sam eventually talks Red Hulk down so Ross can go back to normal, and he surrenders himself to authorities.

Isaiah is released, while Ross is visited by his estranged daughter Betty. Sam goes to visit Joaquin in the hospital, and is later warned by Sterns that threats from other worlds are coming.