Marvel drops new Mossad-affiliated character's Israeli identity
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Marvel Studios redesign the Israeli Mossad-affiliated character as a "high-ranking US government official" in the new Captain America film.
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Israeli actress Shira Haas is set to play the revised character and alter-ego of Sabra, Ruth Bat-Seraph, in the upcoming Captain America film
Marvel has rewritten the controversial character Sabra for its latest film Captain America: Brave New World as a "high-ranking US government official," omitting her Israeli background and storyline amid "Israel's" genocide in Gaza.
In the original comics, Sabra is originally a Mossad agent who served in the IOF, as well as a former Black Widow in the Cinematic Universe's fictional assassin program. The reconstruction of Sabra offers a different biography to the 1980s character's origin story since her Israeli identity has been dropped, and she has been redesigned as an alter-ego named Ruth Bat Seraph, who will be played by Israeli actress Shira Haas.
“While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago," Marvel said in an interview with Variety in 2022, back when the studio was facing backlash for including the Israeli-affiliated character in their upcoming film.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding, a US-based pro-Palestinian organization, issued a statement in 2022 denouncing the character's depiction for “glorifying the Israeli army and police."
Aside from Sabra's background as a former member of the occupation forces, her name also sparked additional criticism, since it is a Hebrew term used to refer to Jewish people born in the occupied land, as well as the name of the refugee camp in Lebanon where 800-3,500 Palestinians were massacred in Lebanon.
"Israel's" ongoing ten-month genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is essentially the main reason Marvel decided to drastically change the character and postpone the film until February 2025, hoping to avoid additional criticism by the public. However, some people are calling for the film's boycott due to the inclusion of the character.
Palestinian organizations call for boycott of Captain America sequel
Palestinian Cultural organizations, including the Palestine Film Institute and the Freedom Theatre, called for a large-scale boycott of Marvel's fourth sequel of the "Captain America" franchise back in April 2023 over promoting Israeli propaganda and glorifying colonialist violence against Palestinians.
"Whatever superficial changes Marvel may make, the character’s anti-Palestinian racist history and representation of apartheid Israel cannot be sanitized. Marvel’s Israeli character is inherently associated with this apartheid government, including its influential fascist element." Alia Malak of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and a founding member of BDS, said.
