William Hurt had played the role of Thunderbolt Ross since The Incredible Hulk in 2008, and he’s reprised the role several times for Civil War, Black Widow, and Avengers: Endgame. Now Ross is set to have a more major role in Captain America: Brave New World, and he’s been recast with Harrison Ford.
With Marvel doing a recast before with characters like Rhodey a.k.a. War Machine, it’s said that Brave New World is also going to explain the change in Ross’ look from previous films. According to @CanWeGetToast, the exchange between Sam Wilson and Ross is going to go as follows:
‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD’ will address Harrison Ford taking over as Thunderbolt Ross with a cheeky line inspired by Iron Man 2:
Sam: “I have to admit, I’m still not used to the new look.”
Ross: “Me either. They said lose the mustache or lose the election.” https://t.co/9KN2KiHOfL pic.twitter.com/jZdaavJbNd
— CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) April 12, 2024
Just for a refresher, here’s the scene from Iron Man 2 which addresses the recast of Rhodey with Don Cheadle:
TONY: “Hey buddy. Didn’t expect to see you here.”
RHODEY: “Look, it’s me. I’m here. Deal with it. Let’s move on.”
If anything, I think the lines between Sam and Ross are cheekier, especially with them giving Ross a completely different look; not even attempting to give Ford the moustache or the same kind of hair. That being said, I am eager to watch infamous grump Ford try to fit in with the MCU as a character who isn’t too pleased with superheroes to begin with.
We don’t know when Marvel is going to drop the first teaser for Captain America 4, but with the release set for early 2025, it’s likely we could get something around the latter end of the year—maybe after the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.
For now, Captain America: Brave New World is set to release in theaters on Feb. 14, 2025. You can catch Sam’s journery to becoming Captain America in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier now streaming on Disney+.
