The reality of the MCU in 2025 is that most everyone knows Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars will reboot, or at least reset, the entire cinematic universe. As a result, it can feel like the current regime of movies and shows is biding their time (if not wasting ours) as we get closer to merging the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the other Fox-owned properties legitimately in with the 616 universe. This is why it’s particularly surprising when something happens that teases an X-Men thing within the mainline MCU. In Captain America: Brave New World, that thing is Adamantium. Yes, Adamantium has officially arrived to the MCU.
In Captain America: Brave New World, the newly elected president, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), addresses a small gathering of world leaders about the discovery of a brand new metal, one as powerful and indestructible as Vibranium. (Actually, what Ross says is that it’s “more indestructible” than Vibranium, which unfortunately is impossible. Indestructible means you can’t destroy it. If you can’t destroy it, you can’t destroy it. Regardless.) But, we quickly learn that the mystery MCU metal is Adamantium, which the authorities discovered within the corpse of the Celestial in the Indian Ocean. Yeah, the one from Eternals!
The MCU’s Adamantium, and the access to it, is the major plot driver of the entire movie, escalating almost to the level of World War III. One aspect Ross highlights about Adamantium in the MCU is that, unlike Vibranium, it isn’t sole property of a single, isolationist nation. Huge burn on Wakanda, and incidentally the most political this would-be political thriller gets.
Adamantium was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 1963’s Avengers #66. The metal is a man-made substance created by metallurgist Dr. Myron MacLain. The Avengers themselves tested the metal’s durability and it withstood attacks from Iron Man, Goliath, and even Thor the God of Thunder. Ultron commanded Vision to steal the Adamantium and used it to create the armor for his new robot body.
Despite first appearing in the pages of Avengers, Adamantium is almost totally associated with the X-Men, thanks to Wolverine. The healing factor made him the perfect subject for grafting the metal onto his bones. His claws, of course, are also made of Adamantium. In fact, I’d hazard to guess if you’ve heard of Adamantium at all, it’s in relation to Wolverine and nowhere else.
And yes, we know the X-Men universe will collide with the main MCU universe, so it might not even matter, but allowing Adamantium to peek into movies and shows until that happens is a fun reminder of what’s to come.
Captain America: Brave New World is in cinemas now.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.