This article contains discusses the ending of "Captain America: Brave New World," now playing in theaters. "Captain America: Brave New World" director Julius Onah had one directive for his department heads: “deny red.

Brave New World and why it felt so strange to me. It was meant to be an espionage thriller (spoilers follow) in the vein of The Winter Soldier, and yet there was no real conspiracy (no traitors, just a guy randomly mind-controlling people) and a twist that was given away in the first trailer (Ross turning into Red Hulk in the Rose Garden).

Marvel’s choice to make a Black man the face of American exceptionalism raises questions the film never answers, despite Mackie embodying the duality of Black patriotism.