It’s usually customary for me to write up a post listing some inconsequential questions a few days after some new geeky form of media comes out. But I didn’t feel the rush to do so with Captain America: Brave New World. That’s because I thought Disney and Marvel‘s latest movie was just good but not exactly great. Besides, I thought Sony‘s latest State of Play was more newsworthy. So, I decided to wait for those who wanted to watch Captain America: Brave New World before I would go ask some inconsequential questions about the film.

Well, it’s been a week since the movie was released. That should be enough time, right? Still, even though enough time has elapsed, I’m still putting out the mandatory SPOILER WARNING out now. After all, I will be discussing specific scenes that happened in the movie. So, yeah. SPOILER WARNING!

#1 Why hypnotize Isaiah Bradley?

Man, Isaiah Bradley can’t seem to get a break, can he? First, he was injected with a version of the Super Soldier Serum, which led him to be incarcerated and experimented on. After being freed, he gets all tied up in this conspiracy where he gets hypnotized to try to assassinate the new President, “Thunderbolt” Ross. What an unlucky guy!

Okay, it wasn’t pure luck as Isaiah Bradley was specifically targeted by the movie’s big baddie to try to carry out the deed. But why use him in the first place? I mean, the big bad guy already had several hypnotized agents in the room to do this. So, why pick one of Sam Wilson‘s close friends? Wouldn’t that just get the new Captain America more invested on figuring out who’s behind the plot? What a boneheaded plan by the big bad!

Speaking of the big bad guy of Brave New World…

#2 Why didn’t the Leader escape the facility earlier?

A part of me kind of admires how Marvel looked at their back catalog of movies and saw they weren’t using one of their villains. It’s a really nice callback to The Incredible Hulk because, although we did see Samuel Stern start to mutate into the Leader in that movie, we never did see him afterwards. Nice of them to remember this.

However, despite the Leader developing a big brain, he still wasn’t immune to movie stupidity as he decided to stay in the prison wherein he was incarcerated despite the fact he could leave at any time! Yeah, when Sam Wilson and his sidekick, the new Falcon, break into his hidden prison, it’s shown that the Leader already has everyone under his mind control!

So, why didn’t he just leave? You might say it’s because he needs all the equipment there… but if he left earlier, he could’ve just made a new base off site! Maybe it’s because “Thunderbolt” Ross might drop by? That doesn’t seem to be the case as, even as the President, he just calls up the guards there to ask if he’s still a captive! So, why not just walk out then and there? Why did the Leader have to wait for Sam Wilson to discover the ruse?

Oh, and since the Leader did eventually leave…

#3 Who was the family the Leader unalived?

After the encounter in the prison, Captain America and Falcon figure out how the Leader is using mind control to order unwilling people to do his bidding. They fly out to warn the President and, while this is happening, the Leader breaks into a house and murders the family living inside. He then phone “Thunderbolt” Ross and taunts him in the hopes he would turn into Red Hulk and attack Japan.

But why did the Leader target this specific house? I mean, is the person inside somehow connected to how the Leader was imprisoned in the first place? Is it some kind of deep cut from the previous movies I’m not aware of? I mean, the guy who answered the door seemed to recognize the Leader. And the Leader seemed to know who he was. So, who was this family?

Speaking of trying to get the President to turn to Red Hulk?

#4 Did the Leader really have to surrender to get Ross to turn to Red Hulk?

So, it turns out the Leader’s plan is not to cause a war or outright assassinate “Thunderbolt” Ross. Rather, his plan was put in effect years ago as he’s been microdosing him with pills laced with gamma radiation. It’s now reached a point wherein, if Ross gets angry enough, he would turn into Red Hulk and destroy his reputation. However, as Captain America has thwarted his previous attempts, the Leader decides to surrender and then broadcast a recording of Ross making a deal with him.

But… why surrender? Why not just broadcast the recording? After all, it doesn’t really seem necessary to put yourself back in prison to let the press know about this under-the-table deal. And it seems like I’m not the only one asking this question!

I guess it’s linked to probabilities as the Leader does say later he can see all outcomes. But I highly doubt him surrendering would be the lynchpin for Ross to finally turn.

Speaking of the Leader’s plan…

#5 Did the Leader actually win?

So, after Captain America seemingly prevented an assassination attempt, after discovering that the Leader was behind the plot, after Captain America preventing a war, and after Falcon got critically injured… after all that, Ross still turned into the Red Hulk! He then went on a rampage and he was eventually imprisoned in the Raft, along with the Leader.

So, does this mean the Leader won?

I mean, that was his plan from the beginning, right? He wanted to take down Ross by turning him into a giant red monster and he eventually did. So, even though he was imprisoned in the Raft, he still got what he wanted?

What a weird movie!

BONUS: What’s the deal with Captain America’s home base?

After Sidewinder tries to kill Sam Wilson so he would stop his investigation into the conspiracy, the new Captain America returns to his home base and talks to Falcon. Tracing the call Sidewinder made during his attack, Falcon figures out where the call originated from. After that, the duo leaves the home base and proceed to the site. But… that’s not the Avengers base. I know that because there isn’t a huge letter “A” dominating the rear wall.

No, Captain America and Falcon’s base has, well, a falcon symbol reminiscent of Sam Wilson’s old insignia. So, I have so many questions regarding Captain America’s new base of operations! First, is this his officially sanctioned base or did he build it himself? Second, where is it located? Third, is it privately funded like the Avengers or is the US government footing the bill? Fourth, is it the old Avengers base and Sam Wilson just repurposed it? I have more but you get the gist.

Do you have any other inconsequential questions that popped into your mind while watching Captain America: Brave New World? Let me know what they were in the comments section below!