At this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a lot go on. It’s been more than 15 years, in and out of universe, since Tony Stark announced he was Iron Man. Since then a vice president committed treason, fascists who infiltrated an international intelligence agency caused a giant aerial fight over the skies of Washington, D.C., half of the universe was wiped out then brought back five years later, and after some jockeying for the official title, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) became the new Captain America.
So much has happened that it makes the big aerial setpiece in “Captain America: Brave New World” all the more confounding.
Fair warning, after this there are spoilers for “Captain America: Brave New World.”
The fourth Captain America movie, and the first with Sam as Cap, tries to go back to the conspiracy thriller plot and tone of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Thanks to the manipulations of supergenius Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), the United States and Japan go from allies to being on the verge of war. Former Army general and current president Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for William Hurt) orders Carrier Strike Group 5 into the Indian Ocean, in a literal race against the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force to Celestial Island, the corpse of a Celestial alien left over from “The Eternals” — don’t worry about it. Thanks to Sterns’ actions, two Navy F/A-18s go rogue, with Sam Wilson and the new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez from “Top Gun: Maverick”) taking to the skies to disable the fighter jets and stop a war.
The rogue Navy aviators try to shoot the two down, but surprisingly conservatively. They rely solely on the fighter jets’ cannons, never trying to use missiles to lock onto the small, nimble flying superheroes. The only times missiles are fired are at the Navy ships, which the heroes have to stop before they hit.
This isn’t the first time people have tried to shoot Sam Wilson out of the sky. In his backstory established in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” he explained how his wingman got killed by an RPG. In his first outing as the Falcon alongside Steve Rogers, he flew through a chaotic scene as SHIELD and HYDRA helicarriers blasted each other apart, dodging flak and missiles. In the series “The Falcon and Winter Soldier” he got in a running fight in a canyon against wingsuit wearing bad guys. In all of those outings the bad guys seem to throw more at Wilson than here. It feels on par with Tony Stark’s dogfight with Air Force F-22 Raptors in the first “Iron Man,” even when Captain America and the enemy jets are weaving around the giant remains of an alien body.
The aerial combat isn’t the only strange showing from the U.S. military in the film. During that sequence, Carrier Strike Group 5 gets attacked by missiles. It fires interceptors but nothing else for the rest of the showdown, even as the F/A-18s come dangerously close to the Navy ships. The Navy is quick to deploy search and rescue helicopters for down pilots, but surprisingly slow and hesitant to fire its anti-air arsenal.
Recent real-world events paint a stark contrast. The Navy has sent multiple carrier strike groups into the waters around Yemen for more than a year, shooting down Houthi drones and missiles. Reports from the Red Sea have pointed to sometimes heavy back-and-forth attacks, with Navy ships and aircraft working to intercept missiles and small drones. The Navy has expended more than 200 missiles and many more other munitions in its anti-air efforts. Here, despite being up against more advanced adversaries than the Houthis, including both Japanese forces and rogue Navy jets, it’s much more subdued. Yes, in the film the heroes are trying to keep the situation from spiraling into all-out war, so some restraint by the Navy is expected. The lack of several defensive tools is not.
The military has a strange role inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the real-world Department of Defense partners with the studio, inside the movies the military shows up either as a career to boost a character’s bonafides (as in “Captain Marvel” with the titular character or with would-be Captain America John Walker in “The Falcon & Winter Soldier”) or be seemingly tough adversaries to be taken out (as in “The Incredible Hulk and the aforementioned “Iron Man” scene). In this case, given the circumstances, it’s a surprise that the wider arsenal of the U.S. Navy is left out for a relatively small-scale aerial skirmish.
This is a movie that culminates in — remember that spoiler warning, although the “plot twist” finale was in all of the marketing — the President of the United States of America turning into the Red Hulk and fighting Captain America in the White House Rose Garden. Even as much as it tries to stay grounded in geopolitics it’s still a movie where the villain is green and has a giant brain and there’s the corpse of a giant alien sticking out of the Indian Ocean. It’s willing to get fanciful. So why be so conservative when it comes to the military action? After more than a decade of flying power armor, evil robots, alien invasions and winged superheroes, there isn’t military doctrine on how to address small targets?
The latest on Task & Purpose
- The ‘gig line’ is back in the Air Force even if you didn’t know it ever left
- This new Army special ops fitness center is decked out like a pro sports gym
- Here’s what the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment looks for in candidates
- The Navy’s Future Sailor Prep Course was aimed at marginal recruits. It’s producing honor grads.
Fort Bliss gets a glimpse into the future with 3D-printed barracks