Captain America: Brave New World's Ending Raises A Particularly Sticky Question About President Ross That I'll Need Answered, And Soon

Warning: spoilers for Captain America’s latest adventure are in play. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you’ve been warned.

My fellow moviegoers, there’s a bit of a constitutional crisis we must urgently address in the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Captain America: Brave New World has now taken its place in the 2025 movie schedule, all of the political intrigue that’s unfolded is going to be a hot button of discussion.

For someone who went to college for a political science degree and has some of that programming still rattling around, the ending to Sam Wilson’s cinematic resurgence left me with a question that will affect all upcoming Marvel movies. In a world where lawmakers would rather draft legislation than face this ever-changing world with a bold blend of empathy and jurisprudence, what we know about Captain America 4 could mean a lot for what’s coming down the line. So let’s jump in, and ask ourselves this question I hope will be answered by May 2nd, the latest, when Thunderbolts arrives.

Who In The World Is President Ross’ Vice President?

I have a feeling the end of Captain America: Brave New World has just given us a lead to expand what we know about Thunderbolts*. Between Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) pronouncing James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as a “future congressman,” and now ex-president Thaddeus Ross appropriately being imprisoned on The Raft, the political landscape of the MCU is in further turmoil.

Not even 100 days into the Ross Presidency, Marvel now has its own entry into the canon of movies involving presidential succession! Since Thaddeus Ross has now stepped down from the mantle of the presidency, the vice president is the first in the line of 15 people that can assume the office if the acting president steps down or is incapacitated.

Which leaves me with a very important question: who in the name of Stan Lee was President Ross’ vice president, and now the president of the United States? Whomever this person was could be involved in the labyrinthian conspiracy that undid the former Hulk Hunter’s time in the Oval Office, and that part kind of scares me.

That concern only grows when remembering that Thunderbolts* will also be dipping its toes into a sort of political intrigue. Much like the executive branch’s role in real-time U.S. politics, the veep is a heartbeat away from the presidency - and if the wrong sort of person is in that position, it could spell big trouble.

I mean, imagine if it's revealed that, somehow, Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is the new president! Would you feel safe with someone like that in the White House, fond memories of Veep aside?

Marvel’s Next Cinematic Phase Depends On The Answer To This Question

We’re now in the “brave new world” of Adamantium, which as producer Nate Moore’s remarks on Mutant easter eggs confirmed is yet another carefully laid Marvel Studios breadcrumb teasing the potential introduction of the X-Men. It’s a future concern that could take the political infighting of Captain America: Civil War’s Sokovia Accords, and amp it up to an unholy end.

In Captain America: Brave New World alone we’ve seen Super Soldiers like Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) used as patsies for assassination attempts, and the world has now seen the fury of President Red Hulk, which is literally the largest case for invoking the 25th amendment I’ve ever seen. Short of climbing into a mech, a la Metal Wolf Chaos, I don’t think the leader of the free world has ever been a bigger threat.

Attention towards what President Thaddeus Ross called “enhanced beings” is already being scrutinized, and if the discovery of Adamantium is going to anything, it’s going to give us a Wolverine. I think you see where I’m going with this, as the antics of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake-Nelson) has left the world with a foundation for the Mutant Registration Act, aka “the Sokovia Accords, with extra bigoted steps.”

Just as the destruction of Wanda Maximoff’s home nation eventually tore apart The Avengers, Captain America 4 has sowed the seeds of discontent. Whomever the next president is, they’ll more than likely be the Commander-in-chief that navigates this next crucial juncture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Maybe I missed something in Brave New World that gives us a clue to whomever President Ross’s VP is. So I’ll more than likely be scouring for those breadcrumbs when I next see the picture. You can currently do the same, as the Marvel Studios release is now showing in theaters. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to start my campaign to become president of the MCU; because if General Ross can do it, anyone can!