Captain America: Brave New World has a controversy that’s decades in the making, yet is being fueled by current events.
The film stars Anthony Mackie as Captain America and Harrison Ford, making his Marvel Studios debut taking over the role of U.S. President Thaddeus Ross from the late William Hurt. The first trailer was released early Friday and is overall winning raves from fans.
But a supporting character seems destined to be an inadvertent lightning rod, and there are calls to boycott the film, sight unseen. Emmy nominee Shira Haas (Unorthodox) plays Ruth Bat-Seraph, an Israeli former Black Widow who is now a high-ranking government U.S. official.
The character’s backlash stems from her original incarnation in the comics. Ruth was formerly known as Sabra, who served as a Mossad agent. Some who are pro-Israel have an issue with changing the character’s allegiance to a U.S. agency. While those who are anti-Israel are protesting the character due to her roots (or, in some cases, simply because she’s Israeli).
The situation is complicated and rife with misinformation. Some are assuming the character’s name and backstory were changed due to recent events, and some calling for a boycott don’t seem to realize her backstory has been changed at all. There are also many who realize the character has been changed, but say it doesn’t matter.
The switch actually dates back to 2022 when Marvel announced at D23 Expo that Haas was joining the MCU. At the time, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel slammed the decision, decrying “the original comic’s ugly racism and valorization of Mossad are sickening.”
At the time, the studio made it clear that the character’s backstory would be changed and released a statement on the matter: “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, 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.”
Marvel sometimes updates its characters to reflect modern times. Benedict Wong’s Doctor Strange character Wong, for instance, was steeped in tropes when created in 1963, but the character has been embraced in the updated movie incarnation.
In Captain America 4, the name Sabra will not be used. The character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk comic book in 1980, and she wore a blue and white outfit featuring a Star of David. She was dubbed the first Israeli superheroine and was an important fixture in the Marvel comic universe, despite never having her own series.
Yet the original comic character was considered by some to be problematic, with Sabra often fighting Arabic terrorist tropes. Also, the name Sabra has several meanings. It can be a person born in Israel, and is also the name of a tree whose fruits have a prickly exterior and sweet interior. But it’s also the name of a Lebanon refugee camp where a militia massacred hundreds of Palestinians while Israeli troops stood by in 1982. This was two years after the character first appeared, which is another bit of misinformation circulating online — some are claiming Marvel deliberately named the character after the massacre.
One protest messaging currently making the rounds: “The character’s backstory includes working for the genocidal Israeli government and its occupation forces. By reviving this racist character in any form, Marvel is promoting Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.”
At the same time, it’s difficult to imagine any version of an Israeli hero in a major pop culture event not being protested by some in 2024 — as Eden Golan discovered when enduring antisemitic backlash for competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Marvel had no comment on the matter. Here’s the new trailer: