Who Is Diamondback, Rosa Salazar’s Character in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?

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Captain America: Brave New World is set to feature the return of antagonists introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s second ever film, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, with promotion for the film focusing on Harrison Ford taking over the role of Thaddeus Ross in time for the character’s transformation into the Red Hulk. But in addition to the red equivalent of his Avengers teammate, Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) will also have to contend with some new enemies.

The film is also set to introduce the Serpent Society, a team of supervillains known for clashing with Sam and his predecessor Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Marvel Comics, to the MCU. If the film is faithful to the source material, however, at least one member of the new group might not be truly evil. Rosa Salazar portrays Society member Rachel Leighton/Diamondback in the film. While the character has certainly spent plenty of time as a criminal, she is also known for reforming for periods in her comic book history, and has even served as a love interest for Steve.

Who Is Diamondback in Marvel Comics?

Created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary, Rachel first appeared in Captain America #310 in 1985. During her adolescence, she volunteered to join a gang in the hopes of following in her brothers’ footsteps, but was beaten and raped by the gang leader, a man known as “Bing” who was truly Brock Rumlow, the future supervillain eventually known as Crossbones. Rachel later joins a training school for criminals run by supervillain Taskmaster, where fellow student Anaconda taught her mercenary skills. As is the case with Willis Stryker, another supervillain who uses the codename Diamondback, the moniker is seemingly meant to refer to the various kinds of snakes called diamondbacks, although Rachel also uses diamond-shaped weapons to fight, filling them with various weaponized substances and hurling them at her enemies.

Rachel was immediately attracted to Steve upon encountering him for the first time, and he began to bring out the more moral sides of her personality, with her providing him with information on the criminal underworld and sometimes even fighting alongside him despite nominally remaining on the other side of the law. The pair eventually started dating with help from some of the Society members Rachel was closest to, who worked to keep the relationship secret from the rest of the group. However, it was eventually discovered, and the Society put Rachel on a kind of trial, with the other members incorrectly assuming that she had provided Steve with secret information about them. They sentenced her to be executed before she escaped and subsequently worked with Steve and the superhero Paladin to neutralize the Society’s latest incarnation.

To protect themselves against possible retribution from the Society, Rachel and her friends started their own mercenary outfit, B.A.D. Girls Inc., which sometimes worked with Steve and other crime fighters, including during the superhero Civil War (as shown in 2006’s Civil War #5), during which they sided with the forces opposed to superhero registration. Unfortunately, more recent appearances have seen Rachel return to crime, though not always completely by choice. At one point during his tenure as Captain America, Sam contacts her for information on a new iteration of the Society, dubbed Serpent Solutions, only for her to reveal that she is working for them, after which she stabs Sam with a poisoned dagger. However, she does oppose the group’s subsequent decision to execute Sam and ultimately fights alongside him and his allies to defeat them (this storyline takes place throughout 2015’s Captain America: Sam Wilson issues 4-6).

How Will Diamondback Fit Into ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?

Given this history of changing sides, and the character’s minimal presence in Brave New World’s marketing, it’s nearly impossible to predict what role Salazar’s version of the character will play in the new film. While she could certainly join the heroes like her comic counterpart and even strike up a romance with Sam or another character, there’s no guarantee either of these things will happen. In fact, some comic book fans may react negatively to the idea of simply giving Steve’s role in Rachel’s story to Sam or someone else.

Furthermore, Xosha Roquemore appears in the film as Leila Taylor, one of Sam’s major love interests from the comics, making the idea of him sharing a romantic relationship with Rachel or any other characters seem less likely. And given that Sam’s dynamic with Rachel is more antagonistic than the one she has with Steve in the comics, there’s a good chance she’ll remain on the villainous side in the MCU, at least for the time being.

Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters February 14, 2025.

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