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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with many colorful heroes and villains, but few are as complex as Isaiah Bradley.

The MCU version of the character made his debut in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where we learn that he was a super-soldier who was discarded by the US government after his service in the Korean War. Bradley was imprisoned and experimented on, giving him a jaded view of the government.

Carl Lumbly was fascinated by the character and enjoyed continuing his story in Captain America: Brave New World. “I love this character, Isaiah Bradley, because this is an individual who you could say they’ve done him wrong, way wrong, in the way all sorts of communities get done wrong in a nation that has ideals and aspirations to do better,” Lumbly says during a panel at Tampa Bay Comic Convention.

“The fact that he had survived, the fact that he doesn’t operate from a place of revenge or malice, but he is aware that those are things that go in the world that he doesn’t want to be a part of. And he gets dragged into this position by Sam Wilson’s character. What I really love about it is his view changes. He allows this young man from another generation to influence his thinking, to make him begin to think about the fact that the world Isaiah lived in the ‘50s, is, yes, it’s the same world, but inside it, we all have greater agency.”

“Incrementally, we’ve all been given an opportunity to take more and more of a part in the way that the world is shaped, if we so choose. And Sam convinces Isaiah that he should take a part. And it’s more than getting a statue, it’s being reminded what you dreamed about, and what you hoped for, not only for yourself, but for the community around you.”

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters