Director Julius Onah had big shoes to fill with the next Captain America movie, as the previous two movies in the franchise, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, were critically lauded for their portrayal of Steve Rogers. Now, with Sam Wilson taking on the shield, Onah has jumped on board to tell this story, which he has described as a paranoid thriller within a superhero movie. Captain America: Brave New World follows Wilson’s Captain America as he finds himself at odds with newly-elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), and as it turns out, the actor playing the President had a huge impact on Onah’s early childhood.
Onah, who is a Nigerian immigrant, told Vanity Fair a story about theatrical experiences that helped shape who he would become as a storyteller. Having been eleven years old when he moved to the United States with his family, it was one Harrison Ford political thriller he watched in his childhood that would inspire him years later:
“Oh my God, when I first moved to America, there were two movies that I saw in theaters, which were my first times seeing a movie. ‘The Lion King’ was the first one, and then the second one was ‘Clear and Present Danger,’ which was huge for me.”
Captain America: Brave New World is a full circle moment for the filmmaker, who would end up working with Ford in another movie with politics at its center— only this time around, it is Anthony Mackie going up against the establishment, and Ford serving as the President.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Is Influenced by Julius Onah’s Formative Childhood as an Immigrant
Julius Onah, who has directed films such as the social thriller Luce and the sci-fi film The Cloverfield Paradox, is surprised at how far he has now come, telling Vanity Fair: “I remember being in New York busing tables and going through all the difficulties, and the limbo at times of the [citizenship] process, and dreaming of making films. Never in my wildest imagination did I think it would lead to making a Captain America film.” What is even more interesting is how Onah has managed to incorporate several elements of Ford’s 1994 film into Captain America: Brave New World, while also reversing his role into something more antagonistic.
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Clear and Present Danger focuses on CIA agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) as he is drawn into an illegal war fought by the U.S. Government and a drug cartel. The cast includes such talent as Willem Dafoe, James Earl Jones, Anne Archer, and Benjamin Bratt, and the marketing of Brave New World seems to creatively overlap with themes of conspiracies and complications of international relations.
Overall, Onah’s full-circle story of his admiration for Ford on the big screen and working with him is inspirational. Despite the project facing numerous delays and reshoots, Onah’s comments indicate that Brave New World is a culmination of the director’s aspirations, which is all the more reason viewers should hope that it succeeds.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
