I Can’t Believe Marvel Just Brought Back A Key Part Of The MCU The Franchise Abandoned 9 Years Ago

In Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel finally remembered a key MCU location introduced back in Captain America: Civil War. Captain America: Brave New World brings back several MCU characters and details the franchise hadn’t revisited in a while. Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns a.k.a. the Leader and Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross return seventeen years after their debut in The Incredible Hulk, Gamma-induced transformations become relevant again with Thaddeus Ross’ transformation into Red Hulk, and Ross’ animosity towards Captain America and the world’s superpowered individuals provides context for Captain America: Brave New World‘s plot.

A lot has happened between the events of Captain America: Civil War and the beginning of Captain America: Brave New World. The Avengers disbanded, failed to stop Thanos, dealt with the Snap’s aftermath for five years, and undid the Snap. The world has witnessed Scarlet Witch’s Hex, a Celestial’s interrupted Emergence, Gargantos’ attack on New York, and a secret alien invasion. The whole multiverse has also been on the brink of destruction multiple times, though few people have noticed it. Over an in-universe decade after Steve Rogers parted ways with the Avengers due to the Sokovia Accords, Sam Wilson faces an international conspiracy as Captain America.

The MCU Forgot About The Raft’s Importance After Civil War

The Raft Has Barely Been Relevant Since Steve Rogers Broke Out His Avengers Team

Captain America: Brave New World revisits the Raft — the maximum security underwater prison created to hold the world’s most powerful and most dangerous individuals. Introduced in Captain America: Civil War, the Raft was supposed to imprison the Avengers who opposed the Sokovia Accords. However, Steve Rogers broke into the Raft at the end of Captain America: Civil War and freed his fellow heroes. Since then, the MCU has barely acknowledged the Raft, suggesting that the US government abandoned the idea of sending dangerous criminals there following the Sokovia Accords’ failure.

As revealed by She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Abomination was transferred to the Department of Damage Control’s Supermax prison after being sent to the Vault in The Incredible Hulk. At Supermax, Wong repeatedly freed Abomination in order to participate in underground martial arts tournaments, and Damage Control only found out when footage shot at the Golden Daggers club was aired on television. Meanwhile, Baron Zemo ordered a successful attack on the Flag-Smashers while imprisoned at the Raft. Clearly, MCU prisons are rarely as secure as they seem.

Which Marvel Characters Are Still In The MCU’s Raft

Only Three Marvel Characters Are Presumed To Be In The Raft

As of the MCU’s 2027, only three Marvel characters are presumably still held at the Raft. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s finale confirms that Baron Zemo isn’t in any rush to exit the underwater prison, and to this day, Zemo is the only character originally introduced in the MCU to be housed there. Luke Cage‘s Willis Stryker a.k.a. Diamondback was arrested and convicted in Luke Cage season 2, and Luke Cage himself made sure that Diamondback was sent to the Raft instead of a regular prison. After a violent spree, Trish Walker a.k.a. Hellcat was similarly convicted and sent directly to the Raft in Jessica Jones season 3.

Other Raft prisoners who have since found freedom are Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Sam Wilson himself. Of these, only Wanda has any superpowers of her own that would make her a reasonable threat to contain in the Raft. Team Captain America seem sto have been sent to the Raft by Thaddeus Ross as a message to all heroes and vigilantes who don’t play well with the authorities. Funny enough, Zemo, Diamondback, and Hellcat also lack any abilities that would make them better candidates for the Raft than a villain like Abomination.

The Raft Can Still Be An Important Location In Future MCU Projects

Phases 5 And 6 Still Have Time To Make The Raft Relevant Again

Now that the MCU revisits the Raft, it could gain relevance following the events of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. President Ross’ Red Hulk transformation, which leads him to destroy the White House in Captain America: Brave New World, makes him an indisputable candidate for the very prison he helped create. Likewise, the Leader and Sentry might only be contained in a prison as safe as the Raft. Alternatively, if President Ross and Valentina Allegra de Fontained aren’t arrested in Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*, they could use their influence to send other dangerous superhumans and vigilantes to the Raft.

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Anthony Mackie’s Recent Comments About Captain America: Brave New World Setting Up The MCU’s Future Has Me Concerned Marvel Wasted The 6 Years Since Endgame

Anthony Mackie hints that Captain America: Brave New World is the beginning of a new MCU chapter, which makes the last six years concerning.

Following the events of Secret Invasion and Daredevil: Born Again, governments could be eager to capture any superhuman or extraterrestrial threat, as well as any vigilantes that work outside the law, despite the Sokovia Accords not being formally enforced. Considering the Thunderbolts are also coerced into working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as a secret ops team, it’s possible that Yelena Belova, John Walker, Alexei Shostakov, and Ava Starr Antonia Dreykov are threatened with being sent to the Raft. Bucky Barnes, on the other hand, probably won’t risk another imprisonment after trying to make things right in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

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