Brave New World’s Best Scene

Captain America: Brave New World star Carl Lumbly spoke to ComingSoon to discuss his role as Isaiah Bradley in the MCU. Lumbly discussed the film’s most emotional scene and his approach to making sure the full depth of Bradley is shown in his performance. Brave New World is now available on Digital and will debut on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on May 13.

“In Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) – who now wields the shield of Captain America after events in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier – meets with newly elected U.S. president Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and soon finds himself in the middle of an international incident. In a race against time, Sam must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red,” says the synopsis for the film, which also stars Carl Lumbly.

Tyler Treese: The scene in Captain America: Brave New World that really registered the most to me emotionally was when you were talking about the significance of your suit that you got married in, and not wanting that to get damaged while you were being arrested. Could you speak to that scene? The emotion that you imbued within that just really elevated what could have been a small line in detail into something that just really touched a lot of people when they viewed the film.

Carl Lumbly: Well, I think that wonderful Houndstooth coat, which he kept referring to as a suit, because in his day, a suit of clothes, the jacket and the pants didn’t have to match. It was his first one, and it was the one he got married in. After leaving his wife when she was four months pregnant to go serve his country, that’s the last he saw of her.

So that suit represents a life that most of it was taken away from him, but that key part of it, that her name was Faith. So his ‘faith’ was never taken from him. And in this invitation to goes someplace special, he wanted to wear his special suit. I’ve worn some pretty loud clothing in my time, but if I think I think it’s sharp. You can’t tell me that I don’t look good.

That’s how Isaiah feels about that jacket. When he comes to and realizes what is about to take place, it’s so surreal. It’s not that it’s beyond his expectation, because he’s had a life experience in the country that says, “Don’t take anything for granted.”

But it’s on that particular night after that, after that momentous appearance in at the White House, which seemed to kind of bring things to a bit of a closure after being recognized for what he had done, then to wake up and realize that he was being accused of something that he had no idea of. But he does know that he has been experimented on. He’s got a serum in his blood. Who knows what else can happen. So the suit is the life that he is trying to hold onto. He can’t lose that. He can’t lose his faith. He can’t allow what love remains in him to be taken out, to be stripped away, to be replaced with bitterness, to be constantly guarded by suspicion.

He’s trying not to do that. Sam has brought him to such a place that he can’t turn back, you know if this had happened in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in his first steps outside the house, he would go back inside the house. That would be it. It’s beyond that. He has a statue now. His grandson is aware of what his grandfather did, stories that he probably had not shared with him. His world is aware of him in a different way. His nation is aware of him as someone who contributed and had those contributions stowed away and never acknowledged.

So with all of that and all of that promise, it makes this moment much, much more difficult. If you’re going to lose everything, and you have a chance to hold on to something that represents more to you than what you are about to lose you’re going to, you’re gonna try clinging to it. He was wrapped in the life that he had not been allowed to live.

So the idea of being returned to prison and having that life sullied in any way — he was not “rational.” It was simply a cry for a little piece of decency. Whatever this is, whatever’s been done to him that he doesn’t know or doesn’t understand, he knows that he knows that jacket. He knows that life. He knows that faith. He knows that woman. He knows his heart, and if those things are still attached, he still has a shot.

That is such a wonderful read on the character and that situation. I feel that people have really gravitated towards Isaiah Bradley in the MCU because you are touching upon a lot of themes and character elements that aren’t typically in superhero films. What’s been most rewarding about getting to reach this very wide blockbuster audience, but not have this character watered down or made less interesting? Because, as you just broke down, there’s so much going on with Isaiah.

Carl Lumbly: Well, it’s wonderful. I think I have to credit Marvel, Julius Onah, and the massive production team on here at Marvel for doing that, for respecting that character, for respecting that story for Marvel, for introducing that story at the time they did, and then for trying to bring it forward into this Brave New World. Perhaps as a reminder that there is unfinished business and there are ways in which repair can take place. Sam started it with Isaiah’s character in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Now, because of Sam’s example, because he made sure the world knew who Isaiah was, Isaiah is now back in the world, and this is the world he has to deal with. Maybe, because of Sam’s example, this is a world he wants to survive in.

There’s a lot of heavy stuff going on in Isaiah’s story, but I really am glad that we got to see early on just him with Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez, where they’re joking around, ribbing each other. We see that there is a really good vibe between them. How is it getting that looser energy out during those scenes? Because that’s such a heartwarming element, and obviously things get so much more serious, but it’s really nice to see that glimpse.

Well, I really appreciated it. I think you, no matter what your situation, there’s a part of you that is still between 10 and 13 years old. When there’s something I really, really enjoy or there’s something I really wanna do, and it’s not necessarily because it’s going to be productive or great for my mind, it’s just something fun that I participated. Generally, for me, it’s basketball — shooting a basketball, watching people play pickup, occasionally playing pickup myself, though not as much as I used to [laughs]. I have to be careful. But I think for Isaiah, this idea of this physical ability that far outstrips what most people are capable of, that he can control. He doesn’t have to be super soldier-y all the time.

I think my take on Isaiah is he knows an awful lot about the rest of his body. He does not necessarily know all that super soldier serum has done inside him, but what he does know is his ability to control himself most of the time. So that’s what was so debilitating about coming to and realizing they’ve done it again. “They got me again.” I’m being accused of something that I have been used as a tool for, but I didn’t do that. I didn’t perpetrate that. And so that scene with, especially the initial scene with Sam and Joaquin, where Sam is essentially doing what he did before. He’s saying, “This man, this is the guy who the statue represents. He’s a human being just like you and me.”

Now, Sam characterizes him in a way that I don’t particularly see Isaiah. I think Isaiah is just one of those people who cuts to the chase. I mean, he’s not frivolous, but he’s fun-loving and he likes playing with people, and he and Sam can play together because of what they’ve been through together. There’s a trust there. I think it’s not mentorship, it’s collegial. I think they both bring things from their eras, from their understanding, from their personal witness to one another, and it’s their willingness to pass those things. That is the foundation of the relationship.

I just wanted to mention, I’ve been watching M.A.N.T.I.S. recently. It’s crazy because before this whole superhero trend, you were on the ground floor there.

Yeah. That’s pretty wild. The pilot for that was one of those incredible moments where I just felt like it might not be possible, but if it is possible, it looks like this. That was so much fun. I would say Isaiah, even though if you had asked me if anything would top that moment playing Miles Hawkins, I would’ve said probably not. Not that experience in the pilot, because I was just so proud, and I loved what that character stood for. But I think I like Isaiah more. Maybe it’s my age, but I think there’s a lot to be said for having lived through difficult times and not losing your heart.

Thanks to Carl Lumbly for taking the time to talk about Captain America: Brave New World