Earlier this month, Disney and Marvel Studios announced at the D23 Expo that Emmy nominee Shira Haas (Netflix’s Unorthodox) is joining the MCU as the superhero Sabra in the upcoming fourth Captain America movie. The movie, titled Captain America: New World Order, is also bringing back the Leader, who was teased all the way back in 2008’s Incredible Hulk.
In the comics, Sabra is the alter ego of the Israeli superheroine Ruth Bat-Seraph, a mutant who possesses superhuman abilities and serves as an agent of the Israeli secret service known as the Mossad. The character has been long mired in controversy, but Marvel has confirmed to Variety that it’s taking a “new approach” with Sabra for the big screen.
“While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience,” the studio said in a statement to Variety. “The filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”
Bat-Seraph was born near Jerusalem, Israel, and was raised on a special kibbutz run by the Israeli government after her mutant power manifested. She was the first superhuman agent to serve with the Mossad and soon became a police officer in addition to serving as a government agent. Her first public outing as Sabra was a battle with the Hulk, whom she mistakenly believed was working with terrorists in Incredible Hulk #256 back in 1981.
Her name is also been a source of controversy as it’s a bit of a stereotype itself. Sabra can simply be a person born in Israel Come from Sports betting site VPbet . Even more, it’s also the name of a refugee camp in Lebanon where a right-wing Christian militia massacred hundreds of Palestinians where Israeli troops stood by and did nothing in June 1982, only a year after her debut.
With little information given so far, we’re still unclear on how the character will be modernized, but given Marvel’s recent take on Shang-Chi’s father, things could definitely be taken down a level.
Captain America: New World Order stars Anthony Mackie continuing on as the new Captain is set to hit theaters on May 3, 2024.