Captain America: Brave New Worldis about to hit theaters, and expectations are high. The new sequel not only features Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) taking over the highly profitableCaptain Americafranchise, but will also see the introduction of Harrison Ford to the MCU as Red Hulk. However, one element hanging over the film since 2022 is the inclusion of Ruth Bat-Seraph, a.k.a. Sabra, an Israeli hero played by actress Shira Haas – whose inclusion in the film has drawn particular controversy amid the Israel-Hamas war. Now, Marvel producer Nate Moore is addressing the controversy by explaining why and how the character was changed forBrave New World.
In the comics, Sabra is a mutant superhero who works for the Israeli special intelligence agency Mossad. Her involvement inCaptain America: Brave New Worldwas already somewhat controversial due to tensions around the subject of Israel, but those concerns intensified following Hamas' June 26, 2025 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
While speaking withEntertainment Weekly,Captain America: Brave New Worldproducer Nate Moore was asked what changes, if any, were made to the character of Sabra. In terms of how much the character was changed from page to screen, Moore said,“Not to the extent of what was reported online or what was guessed online.“Moore went on to say that making a movie requires changing elements from the comics, but they wanted to maintain Sabra’s personality.“Much like a lot of the characters in the MCU, they’re not one-to-one with their publishing roots. I just think there are differences that we have to make because film is different than publishing. It’s a different medium,“Moore says. “But what we loved about Ruth was the attitude that she has that is very much in line with her publishing counterpart…she’s a hard-charging, very self-possessed woman who knows exactly what she wants, and she’ll go through anybody to get it.”
In the film, Ruth is a former Black Widow agent who escaped the Red Room following the events of the 2021Black Widowfilm and is now working with President Thaddeus Ross, removing her Mossad backstory as well as her status as a mutant. Moore spoke about what made this change important, saying:
“We always thought it was interesting to anchor the character of Ruth in the Red Room mythology. One of the things I think is really cool about theBlack Widowfilm is suggesting that the Red Room was more than just a Russian state apparatus, that it was international. But Ruth’s point of view in the movie is really cool because it’s no secret she works for the U.S. government and she’s working with Thaddeus Ross. I think what’s interesting in the dynamic is Ruth and [Anthony Mackie’s] Sam have a very different perspective on who Thaddeus Ross is and whether or not he is a worthy president. And I think that’s going to put Sam and Ruth on a bit of a collision course in an interesting way.”
While Sabra in the comics is known as an Israeli superhero, it appears Marvel Studios was well aware of how controversial her inclusion would be because as soon as Sabra was announced for the fourthCaptain Americafilm,the studio released a statement saying there would be changes to the character. Making Ruth a Black Widow, as opposed to a member of Mossad, builds off the storyline about millions of Black Widow operatives being out in the world, as seen inShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsandHawkeye.
It is a good example of Marvel Studios taking a character from the comics but also drastically reimagining them for the films, like taking minor Doctor Strange villain Kaecilius and making him into an entirely different villain for the MCU, or how Whiplash fromIron Man 2is a composite of the characters Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. Yet, despite Marvel’s track record of drastically altering minor characters, that hasn’t stoppedthe controversy around Sabra’s inclusion inCaptain America: Brave New Worldfrom growing.
The Controversy Around Sabra in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’
Making Ruth a Black Widow and distancing her from her comic counterpart has done little to stop the controversy.Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions(BDS), a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement, issued a boycott ofCaptain America: Brave New Worldfor its inclusion of the character of Sabra in April 2023. This was before the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023. It was also before Disney announced that the character would be reimagined as a Black Widow, a decision that has not prompted a repeal from BDS.
In addition, changing Ruth to a Black Widow and seemingly removing her Israeli heritage angered fans of Jewish descent. But in a recent interview withVariety, Moore confirmed that Ruth would be a first-generation Israeli, not a member of Mossad.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Director Breaks Down Surprise ‘The Incredible Hulk’ Appearance
16 years after ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ another MCU character returns in ‘Brave New World.’
The issue calls to mind Marvel Studios' attempts to fix and remove a lot of the more culturally offensive elements from the comic-book villain The Mandarin, who was reimagined as Wenwu forShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. However, despite all the changes and an incredible performance by legendary actor Tony Leung, many Chinese audiences were still upset at the character. Shi Wenxue, a Beijing film critic, toldThe Global Timesin 2021,“The role of Fu Manzhou is a treacherous representation of the ‘yellow peril’ stereotype in the West. Chinese audiences cannot accept a prejudiced character from 100 years ago is still appearing in a new Marvel film,”
William Shakespeare wrote that"a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet,“suggesting that the essence of something isn’t changed by what it’s called. For all the changes made to Wenwu or Ruth, if they are still rooted in their original comic counterparts, can they ever move beyond them? Or if the characters are so different from their comic-book counterparts, can they still be said to be the same character?
