Xosha Roquemore Joins the Cast of the Upcoming MCU Film Captain America: New World Order Movies
The rising newcomer Xosha Roquemore lands a key role in Marvel’s upcoming film, Captain America: New World Order.
Marvel’s Multiverse Saga continues into the next phase in February with the upcoming film Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. It’s the first film within Phase 5, which will set the tone for the MCU’s next chapter and bring long-time Marvel followers deeper into the new universes, new enemies, and new allies post-Infinity Saga. Changes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been apparent, and fans can expect to see new faces as the plot for the Multiverse Saga unfolds. One new face joining the cast of Captain America: New World Order is Xosha Roquemore, who is set to become a major player in the upcoming Phase 5 film, according to a report from Deadline.
Roquemore is a rising star in Hollywood, most recently appearing in Warner Bros. Space Jam: A New Legacy starring LeBron James. She also has been featured in other prominent projects such as Sherman’s Showcase, Black Monday, and Atlanta. However, her addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe marks her biggest role to date, with her playing a pivotal role in Captain America: New World Order. Roquemore’s part in the film is still under wraps for now, but given her past performances, she’s slated to make a huge debut in the MCU.
Roquemore joins an ensemble lineup of stars in the upcoming Marvel film, most notably Anthony Mackie. He reprises his role as Sam Wilson, who picked up the mantle of Captain America following the series finale of Falcon and the Winter Solider. Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez, and Carl Lumbly are all reprising their roles within the franchise as Dr. Samuel Sterns, Joaquin Torres, and Isaiah Bradley, respectively. Shira Haas and Harrison Ford have also been brought on as cast members for the upcoming Marvel project. Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner Malcolm Spellman serves dual roles on the project as co-director with Julius Onah and co-writer alongside Dalan Musson.
Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man played a small but integral role within Marvel’s Infinity Saga. The tiny but mighty superhero was first introduced in his titular film in 2015 and eventually became responsible for saving half of the universe’s population during Infinity Saga’s resolution in Avengers: Endgame. In an interview with Collider, Marvel producer Kevin Feige and Ant-Man’s franchise director Peyton Reed discussed why Ant-Man was chosen to kick off Phase 5, a pivotal moment within Marvel’s Multiverse Saga.
“We wanted to kick off Phase Five with Ant-Man because he’d earned that position. To not simply be the back-up or the comic relief, but to take his position at the front of the podium of the MCU,” mentions Feige when speaking on Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. Audiences last saw Scott Lang/Ant-Man being sent to the Quantum Realm, but in the upcoming film, Ant-Man embarks on a new adventure in the unknown realm with Hope Van Dyne/Wasp and her parents, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne. Scott faces Marvel’s biggest foe yet as the supervillain Kang the Conqueror enters the fold as MCU’s big bad.
The stakes are much higher entering into Phase 5 as the formidable Kang has the ability to rewrite existence and obliterate timelines. “We’re not running around the streets of San Francisco anymore,” stated Reed. “We’re fighting one of the most powerful villains in Marvel history, and maybe these are the most unlikely Avengers to be the first to go up against this guy.” Ant-Man will have to outmaneuver the sinister Kang who he is forced to do a deal with in order to escape the Quantum Realm.
For years, the Ant-Man and the Wasp franchise was considered the "filler" movies of the MCU. That has drastically changed with the upcoming third installment, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which has marked the on-screen debut of Kang the Conqueror. But even though public opinion on the franchise has only recently changed, Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne have always played key roles in the larger MCU. As evidenced by the animated series, What If...?, their shrinking tech has even positioned them as two of the most powerful Avengers.
Without the help of Ant-Man, the Avengers would never have been able to access the Quantum Realm, thus never undoing the Blip. Before Ant-Man and the Wasp joined the fight against Thanos, they were foiling the plans of Darren Cross and helping stabilize Ghost. With the arrival of Quantumania, now is a great time to look back on the history of Ant-Man and the Wasp in the franchise. Here is every Ant-Man and the Wasp appearance in the MCU, ranked.
A rat was the unsung hero of Avengers: Endgame, releasing Scott Lang from the Quantum Realm after he had been trapped for five years. Scott observed that time worked differently in the Quantum Realm, leading to his idea of using it as a time machine. While the idea was initially met with skepticism, Scott participated in various experiments to prove time travel was possible. A Time Heist was then executed, in which the Avengers went back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones. Thanos' Snap was undone, bringing half of all life in the universe back including Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Janet van Dyne.
Ant-Man and the Wasp were later present during the Battle of Earth, using their unique abilities to their advantage. Ant-Man became Giant-Man, punching a Leviathan and crushing Cull Obsidian under his foot. Meanwhile, the Wasp helped clear a path to the Quantum Tunnel for Captain Marvel. Neither Ant-Man nor the Wasp were main characters in Avengers: Endgame (screentime was focused on the original six Avengers), but were lovely to watch whenever they were on-screen.
Captain America: Civil War was Scott's second film appearance, as well as his first film appearance outside the Ant-Man franchise. He was recruited by Falcon into Team Cap, joining Captain America himself, Hawkeye, the Winter Soldier, and the Scarlet Witch. Ant-Man's appearance in the film was relatively brief, but he stole the show during the fight at the Leipzig/Halle airport — so much so, in fact, that Spider-Man couldn't stop himself from using some questionable language.
Scott became Giant-Man for the first time, and made the battle much more difficult for Team Iron Man. It was Giant-Man's presence that made the scene so memorable for MCU fans. Unfortunately, Scott wasn't used to his new form and was defeated and imprisoned in the Raft. Despite the battle at the airport being Ant-Man's first time with the Avengers, Ant-Man blended in perfectly with the other superheroes.
The third episode of Marvel Studios' What If...? presented a scenario where the world lost its mightiest heroes. As Nick Fury recruited heroes for the Avengers Initiative, a mysterious killer disrupted his plans by wiping out all of Fury's candidates. The list of victims included Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk, all whom were no match for an invisible enemy. The killer was revealed to be Yellowjacket, not Darren Cross from the main MCU, but a variant of Hank Pym in an alternate universe.
Hank was motivated by revenge after Hope van Dyne had been killed during a mission in Europe. He accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of using Janet's death to recruit Hope, blaming the organization and its director, Nick Fury, for Hope's death. The variant Hank Pym was terrifying, demonstrating just how dangerous the Ant-Man and Yellowjacket suits are in the wrong hands. When Hank described his work as not being "some cute technology like the Iron Man suit," he was completely right.
Hope van Dyne finally donned the Wasp suit in Ant-Man and the Wasp, joining Scott in the superheroics. Together, they fought against the black-market dealer Sonny Burch and his men and a superpowered "Ghost." The power couple dynamic in Ant-Man and the Wasp was very well done, providing a breath of fresh air from the individual superheroes and the larger superhero teams. Rather than focusing on a traditional hero-versus-villain plot, the film centered on a mission to retrieve Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm. This decision deepened the world of Ant-Man and the Wasp, and of course set up the events of Avengers: Endgame.
