story of Captain America: Brave New World to the movies that inspired it, the final few months before the MCU project's release have led to many exciting reveals.

In a recent interview with Empire, Captain America: Brave New World's director, Julius Onah, outlined the specific movies he had in mind when crafting the MCU story. Onah also stated that he wants these inspirations to shine through in the final film, rather than be a director who names lots of movies that hold no correspondence with Captain America: Brave New World:

"I don't want to be that guy who says, 'I was inspired by this thing', and then you watch the movie, and you're like, 'What the f*** were you talking about?' We looked at a number of different films. We had a conversation about The Day Of The Jackal, and the Pakula trilogy of Klute, All The President's Men and The Parallax View. These are all movies about people on the move, trying to stay one step ahead of an investigation or an adversary."

While it remains to be seen if Onah's influences shine through, it is clear the filmmaker had a lot of comparison points when making Captain America 4.

What Captain America: Brave New World's Movie Inspiration Means

The Movie Has A Clear Vision

When concerning what impact Onah's inspirations will have on Captain America: Brave New World, they mean that the film had a distinct vision from the beginning. Onah clearly knew what kind of film he wanted to make, citing the inspirations for this story. In Captain America 4's case, Onah wanted a film that involved Sam Wilson fighting to stay ahead of a villain, Tim Blake Nelson's The Leader.

All of the movies mentioned by Onah are exactly this, but they also mean a lot more than that for Captain America: Brave New World. Not only do these movies make it clear that Onah had a focused vision from the start, but they are also some of the most acclaimed thrillers in history. Klute, All the President's Men, and The Parallax View comprise an unofficial trilogy, with each counting among the best conspiracy thrillers ever made, as is The Day of the Jackal. Captain America 4 being inspired by these films certainly does not harm its chances of being a strong thriller-based superhero movie.

Our Take On Captain America: Brave New World's Movie Inspiration

Overall, I cannot deny how refreshing it is to hear a Marvel Studios director name-dropping movies of this caliber. A common complaint of the MCU is that the franchise dilutes filmmakers' visions in favor of by-the-numbers installments. Although I do not necessarily agree with this criticism, there have been some cases of filmmakers with distinct styles being somewhat nullified by the MCU.

Movies of this quality being listed as Captain America: Brave New World's inspirations do not harm its chances of being an impressive thriller in its own right...

It remains to be seen which side of the pond Captain America 4 lands on, but Onah's inspirations give me hope that his vision will be translated. As I alluded to, movies of this quality being listed as Captain America: Brave New World's inspirations do not harm its chances of being an impressive thriller in its own right. For this reason, my excitement for the MCU's first film of 2025 has only grown.