Full spoilers follow for Captain America: Brave New World.
Captain America: Brave New World has spread its wings in theaters worldwide. The first Marvel movie of 2025 isn't all it's cracked up to be – my Captain America: Brave New World review explains why – but it lays the groundwork for what's to come as the Marvel Multiverse Saga barrels towards its inevitable conclusion.
If you haven't watched the Marvel Phase 5 film yet, I'd suggest bookmarking this page and reading its contents once you have because major spoilers follow for the Anthony Mackie-starring flick. For non spoiler-based coverage, read my review above, or get the lowdown on Sam Wilson's first big-screen outing as Cap 2.0 by way of my Captain America: Brave New World hub.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: how does Sam Wilson defeat Red Hulk?
With the power of words! Alright, I'm being facetious, but that's how Sam Wilson manages to a) stop Red Hulk – the gamma-irradiated alter-ego of US President Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross – from rampaging across Washington, DC and b) turning Cap 2.0 into pulp.
Wilson is no super-soldier so, despite his best efforts (and with a Wakanda-made, nanotech-infused super-suit and various gadgets at his disposal), he's no match for Ross' raging superpowered alias. That much is clear with how easily Red Hulk destroys Wilson's Redwing drones, his ability to withstand hits from Cap's vibranium shield, and the effortlessness with which he tears Wilson's costume apart.
But, as Brave New World's director Julius Onah told me ahead of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film's launch, Wilson's superpower is "his empathy and his heart". He was formerly an army veteran counselor, so he knows how to speak to people and engage with them in a caring, considerate manner.
That's exactly what he does in this movie's action-packed finale. Knowing he can't beat Red Hulk in a fist-fight, Wilson talks his foe down by appealing to Ross' parental side and saying he can still have a relationship with estranged daughter Betty if he surrenders. It's... a bit weird that Wilson's first mention of Betty doesn't work before their high-octane battle, but hey, second time's a charm.
Anyway, Ross listens to Wilson, calms down, and reverts back to his human form. After being checked out of hospital, Ross is transferred to The Raft, a high-security underwater prison for superpowered individuals that was first introduced in the MCU in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: does the titular hero reform The Avengers?
No. Despite Ross' initial request for Wilson to help him rebuild The Avengers, events that transpire in Captain America 4 means it doesn't happen.
Well, not yet. In the movie's final scene, Wilson tells Joaquin Torres, who's still in hospital recovering the severe injuries he sustained during the US-Japan conflict around Celestial Island, that he plans on reforming Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Whether he'll has by the time the next Avengers film rolls around (more on this later), though, is unclear.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: Bucky Barnes' cameo and setting up Thunderbolts*
There aren't many cameos in Brave New World. In fact, there's only one really big character appearance in the entire film: James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier. I didn't expect to see him because, well, he's set to star in Thunderbolts*, the final MCU Phase 5 flick that'll release worldwide on May 2.
I was convinced, then, that he'd be too busy dealing with matters in that movie to show up in Captain America 4. Yet, here he is, lending his support to Wilson as Torres undergoes surgery on his aforementioned life-threatening injuries.
So, how does Bucky's appearance set up what's to come in Thunderbolts*? The first and most obvious revelation is that Barnes is jetting off to attend a charity fundraiser after his brief catch-up with Wilson. The first trailer for Thunderbolts* revealed he's on the guestlist for an expensive bash hosted by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, so his presence at said event is a foregone conclusion.
The other tease is something I didn't expect to learn. As Barnes leaves, Ross' security advisor Ruth Bat-Seraph arrives with a coffee for Wilson. As she passes Barnes, she does a double-take before asking Wilson if she just saw "future Congressman" James Barnes. Marvel's newest trailer for Thunderbolts* shows a dapper-looking Bucky sitting in on a US Senate hearing, but there's been no confirmation (until now, anyway) that he's become a government official following events in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (FATWS). Regardless, other public footage of Thunderbolts* confirms he won't spend the entire film engaging in congressional debates – indeed, he'll be getting his hands dirty again as he leads a ragtag band of anti-heroes against another potentially world-ending threat.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: erm, where's Bruce Banner/The Hulk?
Brave New World is a sequel to 2008's The Incredible Hulk in all but name, so you might have expected a certain lean, mean, green machine to join Barnes on the cameo list. However, Bruce Banner and his superpowered alter-ego (i.e. The Hulk) don't show up – and I'm sure you're wondering why.
The honest answer is: I don't know. The last time we saw Banner was in 2023's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The Disney Plus show's final episode revealed Banner – or, rather, Smart Hulk, who's essentially the result of Banner merging his personality and mind with Hulk's body – had a son named Skaar. It's likely, then, that he's spent the past two years getting to know his first-born.
Handy though Smart Hulk would've been in Cap's climactic showdown with Red Hulk, his possible appearance would've overshadowed Wilson in his own movie. For that reason alone, it's not a huge shock that Smart Hulk wasn't called upon by his fellow hero, though I suspect he would've been drafted in if Wilson had failed to stop Red Hulk.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: is there a mid-credits scene?
Nope. The fourth film in the Captain America movie series doesn't have a mid-credits scene.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: okay, what about a post-credits scene?
Thankfully, one of 2025's many new movies does have an end credits scene, so there is a reason to stay until the end (you should do anyway to appreciate those who worked on this movie, FYI).
In it, Wilson return to The Raft to visit the incarcerated Samuel Sterns. The latter was arrested in Cap 4's third act for brainwashing countless Americans and effectively sending them to their deaths as his pawns in this grand game he's been playing from the shadows. Oh, he was also apprehended for escaping his secret lab at Camp Echo One and turning Thaddeus Ross into Red Hulk.
But I digress. After a bit of back and forth between Wilson and Sterns, the latter goads Wilson by telling him he's not ready for what's to come. Indeed, Sterns says he's crunched the numbers and determined that something big is going to happen. The conversation ends with Sterns informing Wilson that 'The Others' are on their way, with the screen cutting to black a few seconds later.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: who or what are 'The Others' that Samuel Sterns mentions?
The most obvious answer is that it's to do with the multiverse. Marvel's Multiverse Saga, which began with Phase 4 and ends with Marvel Phase 6, has periodically shown us that there's an infinite number of universes that exist parallel to the MCU, which has been designated Earth-616 (or Earth-199999, if you listen to Miguel O'Hara in Sony's animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse).
Sorry, I'm getting off-track again! It's incredibly likely, then, that 'The Others' is referring these other universes. We know that the Multiverse Saga is going to end with an Endgame-sized event that'll take place across Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which will presumably bring this Saga's overarching narrative to a close. The latter film's subtitle is also a clear reference to the two 'Secret Wars' comic book series that Marvel has made, too. Each series' storyline resulted in the collapse of the multiverse and the remaining fragments of these realities coalescing together to form a single planet known as Battleworld. I'd be amazed, then, if Avengers: Secret Wars doesn't incorporate this plot element into its narrative. By the way, you can read both 'Secret Wars' literary series, plus over 30,000 other comics, via the Marvel Unlimited app, which you can sign up to using the link and 50% off code below.
Anyway, Sterns' forewarning suggests that the arrival of 'The Others' will create numerous Incursions (essentially, the collision of two universes that destroys one or both entirely) and lead to Battleworld's creation. Wilson was almost ill-equipped to deal with Red Hulk in this movie, so he definitely won't be ready for, as Sterns elegantly put it, "what comes next".
The other possibility is 'The Others' refers to every other universe's Sam Wilson/Captain America, who may be far better and/or more powerful and/or potentially evil versions of Mackie's character. Doomsday and Secret Wars are going to over-stuffed with heroes and villains as it is, though, so introducing numerous multiversal variants of each character would be overkill, in my view. I predict that 'The Others', then, is referring to the MCU's universal siblings.
Captain America: Brave New World ending explained: how does it set up The Fantastic Four: First Steps or Avengers: Doomsday?
Sterns' ominous reference aside, Brave New World doesn't set events in motion for either of these films.
For one, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in an alternate universe to the MCU. That's been made clear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps' teaser trailer, First Steps' first poster, and a Marvel.com article that teased some key story details about The Fantastic Four's next big-screen outing. Captain America 4, then, has no business establishing what will play out in a completely different reality to the one it takes place in.
It's a similar situation for Avengers 5, aka Avengers: Doomsday. It's no secret that Robert Downey Jr is returning to the MCU to play The Fantastic Four's legendary villain Doctor Victor von Doom, and that he'll be the primary antagonist of the next two Avengers films. He seems nailed on to appear in First Steps in a cameo role or a post-credits scene ahead of his official MCU debut in Doomsday, which makes far more sense from a narrative set-up perspective. it would've been incredibly strange, then, if Doom had shown up in Cap 4 or if there had been any references to him in Brave New World.
For more Marvel coverage, read my guides on how to watch the Marvel movies in order, Daredevil: Born Again, and the best Marvel movies.
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