“On your left!”

The newest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Captain America: Brave New World, is swooping into theaters, marking the first entry into the series since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

Things are quite a bit different for Cap following the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame back in 2018, including the actor of the titular character. Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers passed the proverbial torch and literal shield to Sam Wilson, portrayed by Anthony Mackie, after returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful place in time and space.

Captain America: Brave New World connects multiple corners of the expansive universe, and with nearly 20 years, 35 film entries, and a Disney+ series, it can require a bit of a refresher on the Sentinel of Liberty and his many silver screen exploits. Here is everything you need to know about Wilson, how he got the shield, and everything leading up to Captain America: Brave New World.

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

After hanging up his wings and moving to Washington D.C. to join the Department of Veterans Affairs to help counsel soldiers with PTSD, Wilson came across Rogers during one of his morning jogs, when the superpowered soldier dashed past him multiple times with a warning “on your left”, much to Wilson’s annoyance. After their run, the two discuss their service, bonding over shared experiences.

Rogers stops by one of Wilson’s group sessions and admits he is having trouble adjusting to civilian life and is unsure what to do outside of being a soldier. Wilson tells him the story of how he lost his wingman Riley after his wingsuit was struck down in Afghanistan and lost his passion for service. Wilson tells Rogers that he found meaning in helping his fellow soldiers readjust to the world.

S.H.I.E.L.D., the clandestine agency helmed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), was infiltrated by the evil group HYDRA, causing an upheaval that destroyed the entire agency and led to assassination orders for Fury, Captain America, and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Being chased by groups they once thought of as friends, the duo of Rogers and Black Widow enlist the help of Wilson, who immediately offers to help if they can regain possession of the EXO-7 Falcon wingsuit.

With Wilson’s help, the group finds and interrogates double agent Jasper Sitwell who reveals Project Insight, an algorithm made by digitized HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola that aims to quell HYDRA threats before they can develop. With Sitwell in tow, they head to stop Project Insight before it can be activated before they are stopped by The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) who effortlessly tosses Sitwell into traffic and his demise with his metallic arm.

After a climactic battle with HYDRA and freeing the Winter Soldier from mind control, Rogers ask Wilson to join as the newest member of the Avengers and help him track the Winter Solider who turns out to be Rogers’ childhood friend and fellow soldier Bucky Barnes. He also becomes the first member to meet Ant-Man after the diminutive hero breaks into the Avengers compound and bests him with some sized-based trickery.

‘Captain America: Civil War’

Wilson joins Captain America, Black Widow, and the newest Avengers recruit Wanda Maximoff in Sokovia where they attempt to stop Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, one of the HYDRA traitors from the previous film, from procuring a biological weapon. In the ensuing battle, Rumlow attempts to kill Captain America and his squad with a bomb vest, but Wanda attempts to redirect the bomb and accidentally kills dozens of citizens in a hotel, leading to the Sokovia Accords, which, in turn, require superheroes to register with the government.

The Avengers debate the superhero registration act creating a schism that splits the group ideologically. This pits Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye and the newly recruited Ant-Man against Iron Man, War Machine, Vision, Black Panther and a mysterious teenager with spider powers after the former group bucks the new protocol to stop Baron Zemo from awakening a group of brainwashed super soldiers like Bucky.

Rogers’ group gets arrested in a big airport brawl and sent to a prison for super powered criminals called The Raft. Iron Man discovers that Captain America has been hiding the fact that his former best friend murdered Stark’s parents during his time as a brainwashed sleeper agent leading to a knockdown, drag out brawl that leaves Captain America victorious but also a fugitive of the law. In the aftermath, Rogers frees his teammates from prison while Barnes undergoes cryogenic stasis in Wakanda until his brainwashing can be cured.

‘Avengers Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’

After the Sokovia Accords are enacted, Captain America, Falcon, and Black Widow go underground, acting as fugitives when they must go rescue Scarlet Witch and Vision from two of Thanos’ henchmen. The group travels to Wakanda looking for aid for Vision when Thanos snaps half of all life away, taking Wilson and countless people.

Wilson returns five years later thanks to the Hulk reversing Thanos’ actions and restoring everyone Thanos had “blipped” away. Wilson had the honor of introducing the restored heroes with a reversal of Rogers’ own inside joke.

Facing insurmountable odds and staring down Thanos himself with a sliver of his broken shield, Wilson breaks through Rogers’ commlink saying “Cap, can you hear me? It’s Sam… on your left,” before the portals open to reveal all the heroes of the MCU arriving to stop the Mad Titan.

Rogers takes the time machine to return the Infinity Stones to their proper place and live the life he never had the chance to live because of being frozen in ice for decades. Following the funeral of Tony Stark, an elderly Rogers gives a restored shield to Wilson and bestows him with the mantle of Captain America.

‘Falcon & The Winter Soldier’

Being handpicked by Captain America can be an immense weight and feeling unworthy of the legacy, Wilson opts to give the shield up to the government where it is temporarily put on display until they decide to deploy their own successor to Captain America in a man named John Walker.

During his journey of self-reflection Wilson is introduced to Isaiah Bradley, a Black man and Korean War veteran who was the first successful Super Soldier who tells Wilson that America will not accept a Black Captain America, despite his hard work.

After the world-shifting “blip,” a terrorist group called the Flag Smashers formed with the goal of breaking borders around the world.

After the initial fight with the group Wilson and his partner-in-crimefighting Joaquin Torres realizes the entire group has taken the super soldier serum. Wilson and Bucky travel across the globe to find the mysterious Power Broker who has access to the notoriously difficult to produce serum.

After encounters with Walker and the militant flag smashers, Wilson finally opts to take back the mantle of Captain America with the help of Bucky Barnes and Isaiah Bradley, who finally changed his views after seeing Sam in action.

Other MCU films

Captain America: Brave New World, not only draws from Cap’s long history in the MCU, but the rest of the franchise. In recent trailers for the film, they can be seen talking about a new material called Adamantium which seems to be extremely resilient much like Vibranium from Wakanda.

This extremely limited resource can only be found in the Indian Ocean as part of the remains of the celestial Tiamut from 2021’s Eternals. Tiamut was planted inside of the Earth millions of years ago to draw energy from the population until it could emerge and destroy the planet. This emergence was stopped by a group called the Eternals, but portions of Tiamut’s head and hand were able to rise from the ocean.

Some of the longest threads in the history of the MCU will finally be tied into Brave New World with Tim Blake Nelson reprising his role from 2008’s Incredible Hulk. At the conclusion of the film Nelson’s character Samuel Sterns was sprawled on the ground with an open head wound as drops of Bruce Banner’s gamma-radiated blood began to drip on to it causing his head to grow and distort. Comic book fans knew this to be the origin of The Leader, one of the Hulk’s most fearsome foes, who is as smart as the Hulk is strong.

However, the character had yet to appear in the franchise as a fully-fledged villain and now uses his incalculable intelligence to exert control over this fragile, uncertain world. Could he be the reason for President Ross’ (Harrison Ford) transformation into the raging Red Hulk or the attempt on his life by former Captain America Isaiah Bradley?