When the Avengers return to the big screen next year with the highly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday, the all-star team of Marvel superheroes will have a decidedly different look.
Gone is Chris Evans as Captain America – he's given his shield to his former partner Anthony Mackie, formerly the Falcon. Gone is Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow – her boots will be filled by Florence Pugh. Yes, Robert Downey Jr will be back, but not as Iron Man – he'll be taking the role as the villain, Doctor Doom.
And while Mackie is now the anchor of the MCU, beginning in proper with Captain America: Brave New World opening tomorrow across the Middle East, he won't be flying solo. His character, Sam Wilson, has a new partner, Joaquin Torres, played by American actor Danny Ramirez.
First appearing in the 2021 series Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ramirez has a central role as the new Falcon in Brave New World, a role that the actor, 32, takes on with the same anxious excitement as does his fictional counterpart, understanding the weight of responsibility that now falls on his shoulders.
"The biggest joy for me – and this is a rare thing when you consider how many movies and shows come out every year now – was knowing that this is a project that would be viewed by a ton of people," Ramirez tells The National.
"There are times that you go into work and put in the effort and nobody sees it. I got to work every day and reminded myself, everything we're doing we're going to share to the world, and that helped put me over the edge, especially in training. I'd be exhausted, and then I'd remember, and it would give me that extra burst. I turned the pressure into fuel."
While nothing can prepare you for becoming an Avenger, Ramirez has some practice in the spotlight, having starred opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. And he seems to have kept some of Cruise's gung ho energy.
"If you can get me to the UAE, you can drop me out of a plane. We can climb the tallest building in the world. I can do all of that too," he says, referencing some of Cruise's most famous UAE stunts from the Mission: Impossible franchise.
The most successful MCU castings have had a thin line between an actor's public persona and their characters. Downey Jr and Tony Stark have oft-commented upon personal similarities and backstories, for example, and the late Chadwick Boseman's stoic heroism mirrored that of his character in Black Panther.
And while he may not have seen himself in the source material for his character Joaquin Torres – "every third line he's just flirting with a different woman in the comics," Ramirez laughs – the version that he found in the scripts for Brave New World were startlingly similar to his own situation, he found.
"It was so much like the actual place I was in my life at the time. It was art imitating life – every day that I got to set, what was happening to me as a person was also what Joaquin was experiencing."
In the film, Torres is an US Air Force intelligence officer and an admirer of Sam Wilson, who is thrust into the role of the man he once idolised. That was the same for Ramirez, who dreamed that one day he would be able to work with Mackie, and now found himself as Falcon.
"I was working with my heroes. The parallels were so clear that I was like, 'let's not mess with this too much.' I let every day be a new discovery, and I went along for the ride. I allowed that emotional state to be the strength of it, because it was authentic. It was grounded in my own experience," says Ramirez.
Now that the film is nearly out, Ramirez is grappling with something else – not filling the suit himself, but watching children across the world model themselves after him. Now, he's the hero.
"I've already seen people do some cosplay, even though the movie hasn't come out. They're copying toys and building their own suits, which is mind boggling."
Captain America: Brave New World will be released on Thursday in cinemas across the Middle East
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km
Price: from Dh362,500
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Naga
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
WITHIN%20SAND
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POSSIBLE ENGLAND EURO 2020 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Ben Chilwell, Fabian Delph.
Midfielders: Declan Rice, Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
