In fact, Brave New World repeatedly seems to scurry away from any kind of political stance – one particular subplot involving warring heads of state is wrapped up in a single line of dialogue right before the end credits, and an early accusation that Wilson is toadying up to Ross, a man with a laundry list of dodgy dealings to his name, goes nowhere.
Brave New World has been embroiled in controversy since it started production, first due to its inclusion of an Israeli Marvel hero named Sabra – who, in the comics, trained in the IDF – and then due to rumours of anti-Trump allusions running through the film’s script.
Mackie, a fine actor who at this point has been stuck in these movies for far too long, gets little to play with – a single, solitary scene, complete with an unbilled surprise guest star, explores Wilson’s feelings of imposter syndrome.
Wilson eventually realises – though long after it becomes patently obvious where all of this is headed – that someone is using mind control to disrupt Ross’s plans to share between nations an alien metal alloy that’s just been discovered in the Indian Ocean.
Invited to the White House by President Thaddeus Ross (a blandly stern Harrison Ford), he’s embroiled in a conspiracy when Ross is nearly assassinated during a speech.
