It didn’t take long after news of Sabra’s inclusion in “Captain America: Brave New World” broke for online discourse to arise. It’s always great for new heroes, villains, and those in between to join the MCU. However, introducing a superhero known for often encountering characters who reinforce negative Arab stereotypes during the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a quick way to create pushback. Thus, many fans can’t understand what makes the character so pivotal to the plot of the fourth “Captain America” movie that Marvel Studios has kept her in instead of removing her to avoid bad press. Others have simply made it clear that they could do without her in the MCU altogether.
“Why not just remove her and use a different character?” questioned Redditor u/WheelJack83 in a thread on Marvel Studios’ call to keep Sabra in “Brave New World.” One fan, u/TheDarkClaw, struggled to understand how she’d narratively fit into the film, seeing as the plot has been teased predominantly as a clash between Captain America and Thunderbolt Ross (Harrison Ford, who’s a bit old to be Red Hulk, but just right for Ross). Meanwhile, u/a_phantom_limb predicted a boycott of the feature over Sabra’s inclusion. “If this character remains in the film, the movie is absolutely going to get boycotted in a bunch of places.” Sure enough, such boycotts have been called for.
Fans will get to see how the franchise handles Sabra, and, hopefully, what the subtitle in “Captain America: Brave New World” teases for the wider MCU, when the movie premieres on February 14, 2025.