Brave New World and why it felt so strange to me. It was meant to be an espionage thriller (spoilers follow) in the vein of The Winter Soldier, and yet there was no real conspiracy (no traitors, just a guy randomly mind-controlling people) and a twist that was given away in the first trailer (Ross turning into Red Hulk in the Rose Garden).

Brave New World, Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson picks up the big-screen mantle of one of Marvel's oldest and most venerated comic book heroes. So far, audiences have responded: The film earned $192 million globally in its first weekend.

Marvel’s choice to make a Black man the face of American exceptionalism raises questions the film never answers, despite Mackie embodying the duality of Black patriotism.