‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is still playing coy about its villain (but we all know who he is)

It will be Anthony Mackie’s first solo movie as the eponymous super soldier, following Chris Evans’ departure as the character in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Mackie’s Cap will be pitted against several villains in the film, including Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk, aka Thaddeus Ross, and Giancarlo Esposito’s Seth Voelker, aka Sidewinder.

However, the movie’s overarching antagonist appears to be another villain — one we’ve met before in the MCU and who will be the mastermind behind Captain America: Brave New World’s events — and the latest trailer gives us our first glimpse of the mastermind in the film.

Who is Captain America: Brave New World’s main villain?

Released on Saturday, Nov. 9, the 157-second trailer gives MCU fans a better look at Red Hulk, sequences with the likes of Captain America and Sidewinder in action, a look at the Celestial protruding from the ocean following the events of 2021’s Eternals, and a man lurking in the shadows speaking on a cellphone. The man says, “Captain America, you ever ask yourself ‘who’s playing who?’,” and it’s followed by Mackie’s character saying, “Someone’s been pulling the strings on everything.”

While Marvel Studios plays coy on the identity of the man, keeping him shrouded in darkness and facing away from the camera, we all know he’s Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns, aka the Leader, who was first seen way back in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk as an ally of sorts for Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner.

The Leader was introduced in Marvel’s comic books in 1964’s Tales to Astonish #62. Classically, he’s been a thorn in the Hulk’s side, but it appears he’ll be Captain America’s latest nemesis in the MCU (at least to begin with). He’s a human mutate with genius-level intelligence and psionic powers, including telepathy and telekinesis. He lacks his large mutated cranium in Captain America: Brave New World’s latest trailer. However, given that his mutation was underway back in his first appearance in the MCU (after Bruce Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood dripped into a wound on his forehead), there’s a chance it’s being hidden from audiences and will be edited in for the movie itself.

It has already been revealed that the Leader is responsible for creating the Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World — the packaging of Harrison Ford’s character’s Marvel Legends figure describes him as “a monster of Samuel Sterns’ making” — but it remains to be seen what else the conniving character will be responsible for in the film.

With the current crop of MCU movies leading to 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, the culmination of the franchise’s Multiverse Saga, it’ll be interesting to see if the Leader survives to play a part in the biggest Marvel movie event ever. We don’t have a long wait to find out.