How The Captain America 4 Credits Scene Teases Avengers: Doomsday
Can Sam Wilson handle what’s coming?
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has his fair share of responsibilities as Captain America. He has to defend the world against alien threats and keep his new sidekick out of harm’s way — and as President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) explains in Captain America: Brave New World, there’s also the little matter of the Avengers. The superhero team has been AWOL since the Sokovia Accords (and the events of Avengers: Endgame) tore them asunder, but Ross wants the new Cap to rebuild them as soon as possible. That responsibility doesn’t get much playtime in Brave New World, thanks in part to Ross’ shocking transformation into the Red Hulk. But as the credits roll on Sam’s first headliner, it’s clear that the Avengers need to reassemble, and the sooner the better.
Brave New World ends on a hopeful note for Sam and the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) — but its post-credit scene leaves us with a sense of dread for the threat to come. Let’s break down the film’s final parting gift, and how it sets up yet another tease for Avengers: Doomsday. Spoilers ahead for Captain America: Brave New World.
Captain America 4’s Post-Credit Scene, Explained
Brave New World is all about the showdown between Sam Wilson and President Ross, but there’s another threat to come.
In Brave New World, our new Captain America spends most of his time trying to keep President Ross on the right track. His Red Hulk may be the loudest antagonist in the film, but he’s not the true mastermind here. It’s actually Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson, reprising his role from The Incredible Hulk) who holds the true power. After taking a tainted dose of the super soldier serum, Sterns received a major upgrade to his already genius-level intellect. His brain grew larger, making him an expert problem solver. He’s spent the past 16 years analyzing patterns of behavior, using his findings to manipulate Ross and control the minds of anyone he deems as a viable tool. Though Sam manages to thwart his plan, getting him sent to the maximum security prison known as The Raft, Sterns tells him that the true threat has yet to emerge.
Sterns reveals that he’s been noticing patterns across the stars, and has deduced that their universe is but one of many parallel realities. His revelation isn’t exactly new to us, as countless Marvel projects have already explored the multiverse in detail. But Sterns warns Sam that these parallel universes could be on a collision course with what we know as the Sacred Timeline, creating chaos that not even the Avengers will be able to prevent. Those who’ve seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness likely know exactly what Sterns is alluding to: incursions.
Worlds collide
Sam’s next mission may be his biggest — and most dangerous — yet.
Incursions occur when two universes in the multiverse collide, destroying each other — and billions of lives — in the process. They play a major role in Marvel comics, particularly where Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars event is concerned. Beginning in Hickman’s New Avengers, universes throughout the multiverse began canceling each other out. Marvel’s main timeline, Earth-616, eventually crashed into the “Ultimate” timeline, Earth-1610, ending the multiverse as most knew it. While the remnants of all the universes were eventually reforged to create a realm called Battleworld, countless lives were lost. It’s a disastrous fate no matter how you slice it... and since the MCU is set to adapt Secret Wars for an upcoming Avengers film, it’s one that we’ll soon see in live-action.
Sterns’ warning is the latest in a long list of references to incursions in the multiverse, so in a way, it does feel like Brave New World has wasted a perfectly good credits scene on a half-baked revelation. (That space might have been better used to, say, tease adamantium’s growing importance in the MCU, or the X-Men.) That said, it’s still a crucial thing for Sam specifically to know about.
The Marvels and Loki have already shown us just how unstable the multiverse has become, and upcoming films like Fantastic Four: First Steps will take us to a new timeline altogether. Characters throughout the multiverse are bound to cross paths even before Avengers: Secret Wars — Sterns seems to suggest that heroes (and maybe a particular villain) from other universes are already on their way to Earth-616. This perfectly paves the way for a figure like Doctor Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr.) to enter the MCU. Avengers: Doomsday will establish him as the franchise’s next Thanos, so Sam doesn’t have much time to rebuild the Avengers and get them into fighting shape.
The multiverse is once again in dire jeopardy, and there’s no telling what will happen between Brave New World and the next Avengers film. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared — and either way, it’s high time for our favorite superhero squad to assemble against a new villain.
