Captain America: Brave New World Footage At Comic-Con Reveals A Surprise Connection To Eternals And X-Men

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) walks through a corridor in Captain America: Brave New World
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Marvel fans will remember that 2021's Eternals ended with a giant Celestial very nearly emerging from the Earth and destroying the planet... but that's not actually an event we've heard a great deal about in the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon since then. It has been referenced in the franchise (there's an Easter egg you can discover in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law), but we've yet to see a scene in a movie or TV show featuring characters directly discussing it.

As it turns out, that's finally changing in the upcoming Marvel movie Captain America: Brave New World – which just showed off footage at San Diego Comic-Con that not only connects to the emerging Celestial in Eternals, but also parlays that connection into another tease for the forthcoming arrival of the X-Men in the MCU.

In the wake of the Captain America: Brave New World trailer that just debuted earlier this month, Marvel Studios delivered a special preview of the movie during the company's Hall H panel, and the big standout part of the material directly involved a link to Eternals. In the footage, President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford) is delivering a presentation at the White House to a crowded room, and the primary topic of discussion is the Celestial parts that have been sticking out of the ocean for the last few years. The commander in chief explains (without actually calling it a Celestial) that the strange phenomenon has been the subject of international strife since it was discovered, but that it has led to scientific breakthrough. Specifically, it has led to the discovery of a brand new element that has been dubbed Adamantium. 

Of course, those of you familiar with Marvel Comics or at least the X-Men movies know exactly what Adamantium is. Like Vibranium, it is a rare metal that has very special qualities – the most notable being the fact that it is indestructible. In the comics, Captain America's shield is made of Proto-Adamantium (in the MCU, it's made of vibranium), but its most famous usage is on the skeleton of the superhealing mutant known as James Howlett a.k.a. Logan a.k.a. Wolverine.

Adamantium technically makes its Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise debut in Deadpool & Wolverine (which is now playing in theaters everywhere), but the vast majority of that movie doesn't technically take place in the MCU canon, also known as Earth-616. Hence, the metal's mention in Captain America: Brave New World is quite special, and it will be interesting to see not only what kind of impact it makes on the plot of the 2025 blockbuster, but also future movies.

Featuring a stellar cast including Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito (confirmed to be playing Sidewinder), Shira Haas, Liv Tyler and Tim Blake Nelson, Captain America: Brave New World's release date is now less than six months away – the film set to arrive on big screens everywhere on February 14, 2025. We expect plenty more cool updates about it to arrive between now and then, so be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest news about movie.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.