A lot of people, even those who are not usually interested in Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) movies, want to know the answer to one question about the new Captain America movie, Captain America: Brave New World, which opens in Israel on February 13: “Is the character of Ruth Bat-Seraph aka superhero Sabra, who is played by Shira Haas, still Israeli?”
In the comics, the character is a Mossad agent turned superhero and, even before the war, some eyebrows were raised among the anti-Israel crowd when Haas, one of Israel’s most talented and internationally successful actresses, was cast in the role. Following the outbreak of the war, the MCU rumor mill worked overtime, saying her character had been reworked and would not be Israeli since she was described in a Marvel press release in 2024 simply as a US government operative. Pro-Israel people were displeased about the idea of this change, while anti-Israelis, some of whom protested at the premiere of the movie, were upset that Haas was in it, no matter what character she played.
It’s a lot of weight for one slender young actress to carry on her shoulders, but the news is good: Ruth is unambiguously described in the film as Israeli. Ruth Bat-Seraph is a tough cookie who punches way above her weight in the action sequences, and she takes part in several. Haas, a distinctive actress with real presence that has been apparent in every part she’s had since she played the brainy, unconventional daughter in Shtisel – her breakout role – holds her own in this role.
Audiences love Sabra
The one rumored change that turned out to be true is that she is not described as a former Mossad agent, but is an advisor to US President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford, who seems to be channeling mainly the former US president, Joe Biden, with a few Trumpian flourishes in some scenes.
The audience I saw the film with clapped and cheered pretty much every time Haas (or her name in the credits) appeared on screen. I would quote exactly how Captain America (Anthony Mackie) described her when another character asked who she was, but the audience was roaring so loudly after she said she was from Israel that I couldn’t hear the rest of the line. No one calls her Sabra and she doesn’t wear superhero duds like tights and a cape, but she is nevertheless a force to be reckoned with.
But other than Haas’s presence, Captain America: Brave New World is a standard superhero movie, which fans seem determined to enjoy regardless of its quality, illustrated by the fact that the audience cheered as soon as the word, “Marvel” appeared on screen in the opening credits. It follows the formula for such movies: about 30% clunky exposition, 30% action sequences where people wearing various kinds of armor fly around in the air shooting things at villains, and 30% snarky humor that must be funnier if you remember everything that happened in the previous 20 movies, and about 10% heartfelt moments of affirmation and affection between the characters.
If you need to know more than that, and you probably don’t because if you’re reading this for the verdict on Ruth you already have your answer; and if you’re an MCU fan, you’re going to see it no matter what – it opens when Captain America is dispatched to stop something lethal (Alfred Hitchcock called the item that a plot revolves around “the Macguffin”) from being given to bad guy Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) in a compound in Mexico. Captain America succeeds, then wonders what was in the item he intercepted. To thank him, President Ross, who has a checkered history with superheroes, invites him to the White House to celebrate, and he invites his pal, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). Isaiah is a war veteran who was unjustly imprisoned and experimented on by the US government for 30 years but whose name has now been cleared.
President Ross is celebrating the fact that Japan can now mine a powerful substance that can fix all the world’s problems, and it turns out that the Macguffin that Captain America intercepted means that Japan will continue to control these mines. But things don’t go well, and other superheroes help, such as Falcon (Danny Ramirez). There’s a big twist toward the end that the trailer completely gives away, but I won’t do the same. Nor will I reveal which other supervillains and superheroes show up. There’s a crisis that threatens the whole world but – you’ll just have to see it to find out what it is.
Ford is a good sport and even gets to act a little, Mackie is a charmer, and Haas, with her big eyes and serious gaze, shines in all her scenes. While in the post-COVID era, some superhero movies, such as The Marvels, have tanked, Captain America: Brave New World seems to be a return to form, of sorts, although there is nothing especially brave or new about it – except for Ruth.