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A US war with Japan? Only in Captain America

Bizarre Hollywood plots aside, history is littered with predictions and assessments that have aged badly.

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The in-universe explanation of the conflict in Captain America: Brave New World has to do with the discovery of a new element, adamantium

The in-universe explanation of the conflict in Captain America: Brave New World has to do with the discovery of a new element, adamantium.

PHOTO: MARVEL

Gearoid Reidy

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In Walt Disney’s latest Marvel movie, the US is on the brink of war. Not with China, Russia, or even North Korea – but with Japan. 

Wait, Japan? Its closest security partner in Asia, one that depends on its security alliance with the US? The in-universe explanation of the conflict in Captain America: Brave New World has to do with the discovery of a new element, adamantium, which Marvel fans will recognise as the indestructible metal bound to the skeleton of the X-Men’s Wolverine. The US and Japan both have designs on the valuable resource, with trust breaking down between the nations’ leaders as they compete. 

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