Since Shira Haas was first revealed to be playing Ruth Bat-Seraph in Captain America: Brave New World, the character has been the center of online controversy, including calls for her to be removed from the film. In 2022, Marvel Studios made it clear that rather than remove her from the film, they took a “new approach” in reimagining her for the MCU. Now, shortly after the first look at the film hit social media, that new approach is becoming very clear.
While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics. They are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.
-Official Statement from Marvel Studios on Ruth Bat-Seraph in Captain America: Brave New World
Haas‘ brief appearance in the teaser trailer for the film didn’t give much away about what changes may have been made to the character, however, a follow-up piece on Marvel.com shed some light on what to expect. Rather than appearing in the MCU as a member of the Israeli Secret Service, Ruth is described as “a former Black Widow,” who “is now a high-ranking U.S. government official who has the trust of President Ross.” Given how Black Widow played out, the change works just fine but according to a new trade report, the changes don’t stop there.
In the comics, Ruth Bat-Seraph also went by the alias Sabra; however, according to THR, the studio chose to drop that code name entirely as well as her allegiance to Israel. Essentially, Marvel Studios’ new approach to the character was to keep the name and recreate her entirely–and it’s hardly the first time they’ve done such a thing. Though it’s unlikely that the changes made by the studio will relieve any of the tension online, it does show at least some semblance of awareness by the execs while also calling into question why the chose to use the character in the first place when an original character would have worked well in her place.
Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters February 14, 2025.
Sources: Marvel.com, THR
