MOVIE NEWS – Although Disney (they own Marvel) has slowed down a bit this year with superhero movies (only one coming), one of their movies, scheduled for 2025, has already been written off by many…

Captain America: Brave New World has a new trailer featuring an Israeli character, Ruth Bat-Seraph. Shira Haas (Unorthodox) will play the former Black Widow who has been given a bigger position in the US government. According to The Hollywood Reporter, many are already thinking of boycotting the film, while the main characters (Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross, President of the United States; previously played by the late William Hurt) are not against it.

But the reception of the video was not bad, as it struck a chord that this could be a more realistic adventure, as Captain America: Soldier of Winters was in 2014. But pro-Israel advocates say there’s a serious problem with Marvel Studios changing the origin story of Ruth Bat-Seraph, who was originally Sabra, a Mossad agent in the comics. Some people don’t like the fact that she’s associated with America instead of Israel, while others denounce the origin story (and the comic book portrayal of Mossad).

The character has even been given a nickname online (She Who Shall Not Be Named), and the hashtag #CutSabra has gone viral. Many speculate that the character’s background was changed because of the Israel-Hamas war, but during the D23 Expo in 2022, Marvel said they were planning a more modern take on the character: at the time, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel condemned the decision, stating that “the ugly racism of the original comic and the valorization of the Mossad are disgusting”.

The character first appeared in a 1980 Hulk comic, fighting stereotypical Arab villains. Dressed in blue and white with a Star of David, she was named the first Israeli superhero. The name Sabra could also mean someone born in Israel, or a tree that bears sweet fruit but has a prickly appearance, or a reference to the Lebanese refugee camp where a militia massacred hundreds of Palestinians in 1982 while Israeli troops stood by.

And yes, Chris Evans, the former Captain America (2011-2019), has been replaced.

Source: Euronews