Conservative pundits found themselves in an online clash Tuesday with an unlikely demographic – Marvel fans – after calling for a boycott of the upcoming blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World.
The bust-up began following comments made by the movie’s star, Anthony Mackie, during a recent promotion for the film, in which he described the eponymous protagonist as a man with “honor, dignity and integrity,” and that such qualities did not currently represent America.
“For me Captain America represents a lot of different things, and I don’t think the term ‘America’ should be one of those representations,” Mackie said. “It’s about a man who keeps his word, who has honor, dignity and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable.”
The viral clip was quick to anger Republicans, who called for the movie to be boycotted, with some going so far as to describe it as “woke garbage.” Conservative political commentator Dan Bongino shared a clip on X of Mackie’s remarks and wrote: “Another s*** movie I won’t be seeing.”
Todd Erzen of BlazeTV’s Steve Deace Show added: “You should mock and boycott him just as mercilessly as you would Selena Gomez. His movie needs to pay the price for his disrespect.”
Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project, posted: “If you play Captain America, you should be proud to be American … Won’t be taking my kids to see this woke garbage.”
True Marvel fans, however, came out in force to remind the detractors of the real meaning of the character and his values.
“Captain America 2 and 3 were about Captain America directly going against the U.S. government because of poor choices based on incomplete information,” one user wrote. “He’s not a propaganda-spewing mouthpiece and is in fact the direct opposite. So yeah, Anthony Mackie is right.”
“The responses to this show that a lot of people truly do not fundamentally understand the character of Captain America,” wrote another X user. “He is a compass of morality, he is the ideals that we strive towards. He is the embodiment of The American Dream, not the American government.”
Another added: “Captain America has never stood for what the United States is, Captain. America instead stands for what it should be. Cap is everything that the US should represent, and yet the country fails him time and time again throughout the comics. What Anthony said was 100% spot on..”
Captain America: Brave New World, which also stars Harrison Ford, is scheduled to be released on February 14 in the U.S.