Brett Cooper — Why Marvel Fans Are Outraged at the New Captain America | Episode 5

it makes sense that people would feel sensitive to somebody rejecting or dismissing the values that we believe make our country great that we have spent years fighting for and that are also back in action in 2025 I mean the Golden Age of America so to hear somebody rejecting that or being anti-American right now feels like such a betrayal welcome back to another episode of the red Cooper show now as you guys know I was at the inauguration a couple of weeks ago not at the inauguration cuz obviously it was moved inside and unlike the Paul brothers and Conor McGregor I was not invited into the capital even though that would have been a crazy group to be around but the inauguration happened it was historical there was so much joy throughout DC it was just crazy to see and I feel like we have been experiencing that joy for the last couple of weeks and I really love talking about the joy because our joy is actually authentic our joy is genuine and based on something that is real unlike KLA Harris's joy that she faked for basically her entire campaign but I really think that there is something so special about the beginnings of this new Trump presidency the new Trump admin and the now golden age of America and I've been trying to put my finger on what is so exciting and exhilarating and joyful about it and obviously seeing the policies that we voted for kind parition is very exciting and feels very redeeming but it also feels bigger than that and in my opinion kind of what I've landed on as I've been thinking about this is that it's the fact that we are taking back our country and we are now deciding how it is defined on the world stage we are being proactive rather than just reactionary because for the last 20 years or so Hollywood and journalists have been the ones who have decided and directed how we are represented on the world stage they've been telling a bulk of the country who we are and what we represent whether that is you know racists or bigots or war criminals or uneducated whatever it may be it has been coming from them but now things are starting to change in a more positive light or so I hope before we dive into this episode though make sure that you like this video subscribe to this new channel if you've not already and of course ring that notification Bell to make sure that you stay up to date on all of our episodes and of course if you want to check out our new merch collection we have those links below and if you want adree episodes weekly advice videos and an exclusive newsletter make sure to check out my subscriber only platform Cooper confidential it is at Cooper confidential.

supercast dcom we will also have that link in the description below now obviously it is not just Hollywood and journalists fault for the ways that we have been represented and the images that have been portrayed of a modern America because of course our politicians have also helped further those narratives on the world stage and amidst all of the chaos and the division and the hatred and the vital it really felt like we had lost sight of what America is supposed to be what we fought for almost 250 years ago and so with real genuine joy and class and strength back in charge there seems to be a sense of relief and genuine patriotism that so many people have not felt for so many years and I think in my opinion that is why why so many people lost their minds and got so angry with what the actor Anthony Mackey had to say about the term America now if you guys have not followed the story Anthony Mackey is an actor he is playing the new Captain America he is most well known for his career in the MCU I think he is one of the longest running actors in the MCU but there is a new Captain America movie coming out in 2025 it is called Captain America Brave New World and he has been doing a huge press tour for that and a couple of weeks ago he was doing an interview and somebody asked him about Captain America and its connections to to America the country and this is what he had to say just listen for me Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don't think the term you know America should be one of those representations like uh it's about uh a man who keeps his word who has honor dignity and integrity uh someone who is uh trustworthy and dependable that does not sound great so basically what we got from that is that the Beloved Captain America represents a lot of f a lot of objectively good values but America the term is not one of them got it you know I guess that we do not represent integrity and trustworthiness and always doing the right thing and honesty not America in Anthony Mackey's mind people on X and on Tik Tok they lost their damn Minds there were clips of this going viral I mean mega mega viral and it immediately sparked a debate between the left and the right because the right was angry because it felt like he was crapping on America and he was saying that we do not have good values that he didn't want Captain America to be linked in with our you know great country and people on the left were immediately pushing back and going no it's like an awful country we just elected Trump why would he wanted to represent Captain America all this we all just started freaking fighting per usual one headline reads Captain America fans defend Anthony Mackey from Trump supporters he is right I also just think it's hysterical that anybody who defends America as a country and are founding beliefs is automatically labeled a trump supporter like these accounts that were commenting these things they did not have like Maga in their bio it was tons of different people but of course the mainstream media is like trap supporters they love the country you must be oh God it's like so old at this point like please find a new narrative and I had a similar response like many people online being like I mean that's unfortunate here's another movie going down the drain I guess this is unfortunate but then I looked into it more I read the comments as I do I mean it basically seemed like people cared more about the political WIS than they did about actually going deeper and understanding the context of the video and of the issue that they were discussing and for those of us who do want to push through the noise and actually go deeper we need Peter Academy because that is exactly what they strive to do and if you didn't know Peterson Academy is Dr Jordan Peterson's new online university that is open for enrollment right now and so if you are somebody who loves lifelong learning that does want to go deeper and push beyond the headlines if you are 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expl explore new subjects it is time for you to go to Peterson academy.com Brett Peterson Academy is $599 a year or $59 a month to access all 31 8 Hour courses plus those four new courses that are coming every single month plus the social community and a 7-Day moneyback guarantee and to me the best part is for that price you are not having to take out a $60,000 student loan to continue your education so again that is Peterson academy.com Brett to join Peterson Academy today they will help you go deeper they will give you the tools that you need to critically think about the world around you especially in situations like this when it goes crazy on social media and I noticed that some of the people who were pushing back Wen necessarily wrong and these were not the finger Waggers and the pointers and the people who were making it a right versus left thing they were just talking about Captain America in general in the history and to their point Anthony Mackey might not be entirely wrong either because this is not really a new take on Captain America it's not the Captain America rejects America entirely but it is that he is bigger than just one country which is exactly what Chris Evans said back in 2011 so this is not the first time that an actor playing Captain America has expressed this sentiment in 2011 Chris Evans said well to me I'm not trying to get too lost in the American side of it this is not a flag waving movie it is red white and blue but it just so happens that the character was created in America during war time when there was a common enemy even though it is Captain America I've said before an interview VI it feels more like he should just be called Captain good you know he was created at a time where there was this undeniable evil and this guy was kind of created to fight that evil I think that everyone could agree that Nazis were bad and he cap just so happens to wear the red white and blue so again he's saying you know not a patriotic movie not a America movie but it's a movie about aspirational ideals and objective good and this person is supposed to embody these ideals that could be relatable to any individual should be aspirational to somebody no matter what country you live in no matter what your background is you should be able to see the good in this superhero and as even more people pointed out if you go back even further in history of Captain America this is what is actually said in the Captain America comics this is the comic right here but I'll read it to you he says listen to me all of you out there you were told by this man your hero that America is the greatest country in the world he told you that Americans were the greatest people that America could be refined like silver could have the impurities hammered out of it and shine more brightly he went on about about how precious America was and how you needed to make sure it remained great and he told you that anything was justified to preserve that pearl of the great price that is America well I say that America is nothing without its ideals its commitment to the freedom of all men America is a piece of trash a nation is nothing a flag is a piece of cloth I fought Adolf Hitler not because America was great but because it was fragile I knew that Liberty could be easily snuffed out here as in Nazi Germany as people were no different than them when I returned I saw that you nearly did turn America into nothing I mean this is deep for a comic this is a lot more nuanced than Anthony Mackey was in his little quip it's a lot deeper than what Chris Evans was trying to communicate but you can kind of connect the dots on what they were basing their responses on based on the history of this character and what he said in the comics and what he has done in all these other movies I especially love this last paragraph where it talks about America being fragile I mean that's something that we have discussed consistently over the last couple of years the driving force with getting someone like Trump back in office so that he could steer us onto the right track because we are so fragile because we have seen our country be almost destroyed and we could not let that happen we are not immune to tyranny we are not immune to terrible ideas and victimhood and bad ideology and communism we have gotten so close to having that here which is why we have to fight for the ideals that this country was founded on and while I agree with that second paragraph I do kind of disagree with the first paragraph where he says that America can't be great that it cannot be fixed and have the blemishes removed I do believe that we can get to that point I think that we are certainly on on our way right now this is a discussion about what it means to have ideals and beliefs and values that drive the foundation of a country and what happens when those ideals get forgotten and trampled out and what it means to fight to get that back and to have a love of country and a love of ideals but maybe not love where we are right now and I think it's ideologically wrong for people to get angry at somebody saying that America isn't perfect or that they don't love America right now because we've done that like obviously people on the left are going to be unhappy with what is happening in Trump's America they're to be angry and afraid I've tried to address that and quell some of those fears but it's dishonest to say that we haven't done that I've certainly done that over the last four years like this country is doomed authoritarianism Biden he's running it into the ground and while there's a difference between criticizing the current state of America and what's going on and criticizing its ideals I really don't think Anthony Mackey was concerning himself with clarifying anything or having any Nuance like I'm sorry but he's an actor doing a press tour I don't really think he's thought about this very deeply and so it might not be all Anthony fault like I genuinely do not even know if he knew what he was trying to say especially when you hear what he said after the end of that quote at the end of this clip this is kind of like a uh an aspect of a dream coming true you know when I was a kid you know all of us as actors I believe want to get back to that day before someone told you no when you look out your door and you see a 5-year-old kid with a stick and he's slaying dragons to save the princess in the tower that kid really believes their dragon out there that stick is really a sword and he's really trying to save that princess and then one day somebody told him no there no dragons that's not a sword and that princess is not there and all of his little dreams were dashed so you know as an actor I feel like our job is to get back to the day where we see that dragon and we slay that Dragon to save that princess and uh that's kind of what this movie was for me how did that connect with what America represents like we went from a very weird quip about Captain America not really representing America and him being bigger than that into a actor's monologue about what it means to be an actor like is he talking about ideals and dreams and how it relates to America or did he just completely get off track and he's just talking about what it meant as an actor to do this movie and play a superhero because it felt like he was tapping in to his inter like that just doesn't make sense I was a child actor I've been around a lot of actors I love actors I have a fondness for actors that was dumb actor speak that was he was asked a question he tried to answer it he got off track and he just started going into his little emotional brain talking about his hopes and dreams and what made him want to be an actor which is like totally fine but it just makes me think again that he literally didn't know what he was talking about he was probably given some PR points about Captain America he was told what Chris Evan said he's probably read the comics at this point especially because he's been in the MCU for so long he was probably trying to express what had been said before but he screwed it up he offered no Clarity no substance and then he turned it into this odd musing on what it means to be an actor and tapping into your inner child and also it's not the first time on this press tour that he has gotten off track and contradicted himself for instance at another point in one of these big interviews he was asked about what it means to be a black man you know playing Captain America because obviously they're going to ask that stupid freaking question and he completely spoke out of both sides of his mouth he said I feel like it is just as important for black kids to see a black Captain America as it is for white kids growing up one of my favorite superheroes was green it wasn't about race or anything it was just about him being a good guy trying to do the right thing it's very important for kidss of all Races to be able to watch something and have someone to look up to no matter what they look like and see that that package comes with a good human being as opposed to what they've been perceived as by everyone else so he sums it up by saying that race doesn't matter you know he could be green and love him but also it's very important for little black kids to see him play this role and that everybody needs to see representation like I genuinely think that he's just making all of this up as he goes I think that he is just rambling and trying to find his way and as somebody who does get interviewed and has to do press sometimes that happens like sometimes I will sit down for an interview somebody will ask me a question and it takes me a good five minutes to get there I like I do the Donald Trump weave of like I want to figure out how I'm going to get there but he's doing this on a world stage and people are only clipping out small moments and to be fair even though he kind of talked his way around the issue he is right that color shouldn't matter like color should not matter unless you are evaluating your Stakes which is why I buy from good ranchers because they have the highest quality cuts of meat and all of their products are from the US and I know that you might say Brett come on I can go to the grocery store and everything says product of the USA m actually 85% of grass-fed beef that you see in the grocery store is not actually from the United States and that is because the country of origin law was actually repealed so now a meat product does not need to be born raised or even harvested in the United States to get that label it only needs to be packaged in the United States in order to say that it is a product of the United States but with good ranchers when they say that their meat is 100% American they actually mean it all of their products are born raised harvested and packaged by local ranchers that keep our communities fed and moving and on top of that these American products 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have served our country cap has Universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to and that last line if I had to guess was what he was trying to convey or maybe he's hoping that people now believe that that was what he was trying to convey but based on Chris Evans and based on the comics it seems like that is probably the direction he was trying to take and to take this apology and clarification even further just to give Anthony Mackey some credit even tried to shut down rumors that the character of thus Ross who becomes red who was being played by Harrison Ford in this new film was designed in this new film to represent Donald Trump to be this you know tyrannical antagonist they had even at one point because they've done many iterations of this new Brave New World film they had even had a previous rewrite where there was like a Jan 6 thing in it but then they took it out and they rewrote it because I think they knew the culture was changing so it seems like they are proactively trying to be more culturally where we are right now and be less politically divisive and it seems like that is what Anthony Macky is trying to do at least in the aftermath of that Viral clip but I did get ahead of myself this is what he said he said I hope that as a country we are tired of all the political jousting let's just go to the movies and chill the F out we could have made this mother f for yellow and it would have been a problem and you know what listen to be fair he is correct I think we would all like to chill the F out and just go to the movies but you know Hollywood kind of has to be the one to do it so that's actually the part of the quote that read me the wrong way it's like we yes yes we've been wanting that we want the political jousting to end we want it just be able to go to movies you guys need to take the steps to make that happen you need to stop criticizing us at every turn you need to stop making antagonist characters out of political leaders based on narratives that you've created in your head based on mainstream media like that needs to happen before we can all get to that point and who knows based on these rewrites based on the things he's saying we might be getting to that point and of course this could be a PR cleanup job for Marvel and his team but at least he didn't lean into that original sentiment more which I think has helped us all greatly so that is one side of this viral story that I wanted to discuss but the other side of it was that in going through all of this and reading all the comments and going back and looking at the comics and going back and looking at what Chris Evans said back in 2011 my prevailing thought was do we really need to react angrily to everything we see online like is a clip from an actor talking about ridiculous actor things like the thing that we all need to spend hours getting angry about and I know it's funny to hear that for me because I did a reaction so for 3 years but that is why I always try to extract substance and be more balanced because people just explode online over nothing over something that could easily be broken down and discussed if you just spent 5 minutes Googling something and reading a couple articles seriously if you had takeen 5 minutes and you would seen the Chris Evans quote and you had seen the comics I feel like people could have easily noticed that this was basically like a nothing burger and of course you are welcome to be angry at the sentiment that the Captain America comics that Chris Evans and now Anthony Mackey have expressed that's totally fine you can believe that it's wrong and believe you know America should be represented in a different light or that what they're saying is inherently theoretically wrong but I don't think all of this needs to be p on Anthony Mackey I don't think that he is the one that is single-handedly destroying the MCU and destroying Captain America like if you go back further this started a long time ago and that context is important because in my mind if you are just looking at that video alone no other context not looking deeper into the story that story ends with it just being an actor saying stupid crap but of course if you do want to go deeper it does beg a bigger question of what does America represent can we even be defined by that name that word alone we live in a country that is evolved massively over the last 250 years we are constantly growing and evolving and changing sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse feels like it's been for the worse over the last 10 years but now for a large portion of the country we feel hopeful we feel like we are getting back on track and we should be excited and exhilarated about all of that so with that feeling in mind and thinking in the context of what Anthony Mackey said I want to play you this video from a friend of mine this is Alma he immigrated to America he went viral on Tik Tok a couple of years ago actually talking about what he found so beautiful about America and he kind of brought this sentiment back in a very gracious and balanced response to this anti-American sentiment and there's a chance I will not be able to play you the entire clip thanks to YouTube copyright laws so go find Alma Tik Tok if you want to watch the entire thing because it really is beautiful the reason millions of people come to America is not because we think America is perfect it's not because we believe our politicians are above reproach or that we believe this country has no problems with Injustice and governmental malons we come to America because we believe this country is built on a foundation of principles and values secured by a constitution that represents and upholds the right and dignity of every citizen and although our past has not always reflected the essence of our foundational beliefs setting up symbols that represent that ideal is necessary am to help us understand and embrace a future that I believe we can all fight for America is not perfect but immigrants like me will continue to fight to build a country for the Next Generation that is worthy of the values and principles that brought me here my point in playing that other than just wanting to uplift Alma because I think he has a great account and just has great takes is that I think he hit the nail on the head with what Chris Evans and what the original Comics were trying to convey that yes it is flawed but we need these ideals to drive us to fight to keep America as great as it can be to fight to preserve these values and Anthony macki just kind kind of missed the mark but based on his other comments it seems like he sort of gets it but that he was so lost in actor land and wanting to talk about you know playing with swords and a child experiences that he didn't finish the thought so all of that being said and you know in keeping with what Alma just said it makes sense that people would feel sensitive to somebody rejecting or dismissing the values that we believe make our country great that we have spent years fighting for and that are also back in action in 2025 I mean the Golden Age of America so to hear some body rejecting that or being anti-American right now feels like such a betrayal even though obviously there are people in our country who hate what's going on but for a lot of people I think it's like how could you not love the energy right now and I understand that but of course we also have to say that after everything we've seen come out of Hollywood over the last 10 to 20 years like an anti-American sentiment is nothing new that's probably one of the other reasons why this didn't completely throw me off because I'm like okay an actor not loving America not wanting to represent America great that's like a normal Wednesday in our lives but I do think kind of as I mentioned earlier that Hollywood showing a love of country is making its way back whether that's them cutting out the Jan 6 stuff because they realized that wouldn't play and would actually just make people angry or whether it's films like top gun Maverick or Twisters being absolutely massive successes at the box office speaking not just to their quality but also to the Americana ideals and values that they represented like I think that that is why those films resonated so much with Americans across the country like of course they were great films they were fun films but you left those films feeling that an overwhelming sense of Pride to be an American I mean the Nostalgia in both of those films the independence the glorification of normal great beautiful Middle America of rodeo culture of our armed servicemen and women that is what I remember from both of those films and going oh my God I can't believe that Hollywood did that that they're producing that for us and audiences showed up in droves I mean talk about giving a mandate to Trump on how to lead the country we gave a mandate to Hollywood with those two films of showing what we will show up for and what we're wanting we don't need need you to make a Donald Trump film to make a Conservative Christian film no we just want you to sometimes make a movie that doesn't crap on all of our values that makes us feel good about the country that we live in it's really not that difficult of an ask and so hopefully with the changing culture with everything that we've seen with the election with these last couple of films hopefully they are starting to listen and hopefully Anthony Mackey was just being dumb and the Captain American Brave New World Isn't line with those films that speak to those ideals that Captain America is supposed to represent that should represent America of integrity and Independence and trustworthiness and goodness hopefully we see that because even I can admit that we are far from perfect a lot of the time that we have so many things that need to be fixed that we have flawed systems that need to be completely dismantled and uprooted but we should still love our country's foundation and that doesn't mean that we can't try to be better and live up to those values every single day hopefully with the help of superheroes and characters like that and I know we like to talk down on Hollywood and say that they're not important that they're irrelevant that we don't need them but stories are important characters like Captain America that drive us to be better that represent goodness that teach kids how to be a good leader how to fight for what's right those are important those are important aspects of our culture and of our society that should hopefully in an Ideal World make us all want to be better and push our world forward and so hopefully that's what happens in Captain America Brave New World but of course we'll see