Captain America: Brave New World merchandise reveals cut characters and a wildly different look for The Leader – and Marvel fans are wondering what happened

Anthony Mackie in Captain America 4 — (Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

Captain America: Brave New World is currently smashing the box office, but some Marvel fans are wondering why two characters were changed ahead of its release. This comes after merchandise revealed a very different look for The Leader as well as a look at Diamondback, a character cut from the final movie.

Posting on Twitter, critic Josh Wilding wrote: "The craziest thing about #CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld to me is that this version of The Leader is not in the movie. They must have COMPLETELY redesigned him in reshoots (and not for the better, sadly)." Alongside it, they shared a look at the Funko Pop design of the character, which shows him with the same green hue but instead of having an exposed brain like in the final movie, he has an enlarged forehead and dark hair.

Replying to him, another fan pointed out, "You think that's bad, there's a McDonalds toy for Diamondback who was cut entirely from the movie." They shared a picture of the merchandise, showing the intended pink hair and checked purple suit look for the character. Rachel Leighton, or Diamondback, is a member of the Serpent Society and was due to be played in the film by Alita: Battle Angel star Rosa Salazar. However, she was cut from the final version. She's not the only axed character either as WWE superstar Seth Rollins was also cut from the Serpent Society.

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Some fans have been wondering what happened, particularly with the changed details with The Leader's final look. One replied: "I thought by the end he'd look accurate...but nope...this is what happens when you do a bunch of reshoots and rewrites…" Another suggested: "I'm wondering if he will hopefully have this look later on. Like as a way to 'cure' himself." However, others were a fan of the changes with one writing, "I prefer the movie version".

Meanwhile, Rollins says his role was cut due to "a lot of rewrites and reshoots". While it's not been confirmed, it's likely this was also why Diamondback didn't make the final film. Captain America: Brave New World originally filmed between March and June 2023 before Operation Finale screenwriter Matthew Orton joined in December 2023 for reshoots. These took place between May and November 2024. However, director Julius Onah recently played down the extent of these, calling them just a standard period of "additional photography".

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.