The latest feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Brave New World, is finally being released. The long-awaited MCU film marks the first Captain America movie with Anthony Mackie as Cap, and while it’s taken some time to get here, the film recently had its Hollywood premiere. However, there were also protests at the premiere of Captain America: Brave New World that called for a boycott of the superhero venture.
As noted by Variety, the protests against Captain America: Brave New World were being held by “several dozen pro-Palestine protesters.” The reason for their protests revolved around a new character featured in the film, Ruth Bat-Seraph, aka Sabra, who was played by Shira Haas. Her character, Sabra, was adapted directly from the comics following her first appearance four decades ago.
Nonetheless, Palestinian fans and supporters were not fond of Sabra’s inclusion in Captain America: Brave New World. The Israeli superhero, who is played by Israeli actress Shira Haas, is a Mossad agent in the comics. Marvel delivered the following statement to Variety to defend their inclusion of the character in the film:
“While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics,” Marvel shared, “they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”
It’s worth noting that the character, who was a Mossad agent in the comics as mentioned above, works for the United States government in the new film. Though there have been controversies surrounding her character since her first comic book introduction, the Israeli-Palestine conflict is just as relevant as today and so it’s not surprising to see protests held in response.
Here are some clips of the protests below as shared on social media following the premiere of Captain America: Brave New World in Hollywood:
Pro-Palestine protestors have gathered at the #CaptainAmerica premiere in Hollywood. pic.twitter.com/8gPyYBDCnS
— Variety (@Variety) February 12, 2025
Protesters chant “Free Palestine” and “Boycott Disney” outside the Chinese Theater at the #CaptainAmerica Brave New World premiere pic.twitter.com/fXtVVnCk6B
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 12, 2025
A pro-Palestine protest taking place outside of the ‘Captain America Brave New World’ premiere in Hollywood tonight pic.twitter.com/cf81GqIcQp
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 12, 2025
Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on February 14, 2025. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Captain America: Brave New World and the reception of the film as we have it. While there are likely going to be other protests and boycotts held, it is a Marvel movie after all, so we’ll have to see how the masses react to the movie.