Captain America 4: Is Marvel Going To Change Red Hulk's Origin?

Highlights

Marvel let the Red Hulk villain leak for Captain America 4, potentially altering character origins.
Harrison Ford set to replace William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross in Brave New World.
Ford’s role hints at significant Red Hulk involvement in the film’s plot.

Marvel Studios are gearing up for a busy 2025, with the highly anticipated release of Captain America 4, which will be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe release of the year. It will be subtitled Brave New World, and will see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson ditch his Falcon moniker in favor of the Captain America title, previously held by Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. It was recently revealed that Red Hulk would be the villain of Captain America: Brave New World, and this has raised questions over how marvel will deal with the characters’ origin story.

Harrison Ford will replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (aka Red Hulk) in the upcoming sequel, and it’s a possibility that the change of actor could also lead to the change in direction of the Red Hulk, with a different set-up of his origins to re-introduce the element of surprise to the audience.

Marvel Letting Its Captain America 4 Villain Leak Shows A Lack Of Faith In The Movie

Marvel Studios doesn’t appear to have much faith in Captain America 4, after choosing to release the identity of its main villain in toy form.

Will Marvel subvert Red Hulk’s origin story to surprise the audience?

Captain America: Brave New World
Starring	Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Tim Blake Nelson and Liv Tyler
Written By	Dalan Musson, Matthew Orton and Malcolm Spellman
Directed By	Julius Onah

Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross has featured in the MCU ever since he appeared in The Incredible Hulk way back in 2008, up until Black Widow in 2021. However, tragedy struck in real life when the actor who portrayed him, William Hurt, died in 2022, leaving the future of the character in doubt. There were clearly big plans for Hurt’s Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, as Harrison Ford was confirmed to be taking over the character, with his first appearance set for 2025, in Captain America: Brave New World.

Marvel always keep their story plans under wraps, but they allowed a significant leak to happen courtesy of a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy leak revealing that Red Hulk would appear in the MCU’s first outing in 2025. Fans of the Captain America franchise will be fully aware that Red Hulk is the alter ego of Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross, which raises the question: Will Marvel subvert Red Hulk’s origin story to provide some surprises for the audience when the villain appears in the movie? Nothing has been confirmed or denied, but many fans believe Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross will have already made the transition to Red Hulk at the start of the movie.

If this is the case, it would sidestep the need to go into the origin story of Ross, and purely focus on Red Hulk, with a bit of exposition to point out who Red Hulk used to be, with potential clips of the William Hurt iteration of the character, who was very much a firm fixture in the universe. This would lessen the jarring effect of seeing a very famous movie star in Harrison Ford, replace another famous movie star, William Hurt, in a role that he’d already made his own since 2008.

Chronologically, General Ross’s most recent MCU appearance came at the end of Avengers: Endgame, and that movie secretly teased the Red Hulk. Prior to Endgame, Ross revealed during Captain America: Civil War that he had undergone some major health issues as a result of a heart attack several years ago. Black Widow then reveals that Ross had undergone another triple bypass operation shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. It’s been suggested that his recovery may be tied to a superhuman element. So, by the start of Captain America 4, it’s entirely feasible that Ross is already Red Hulk, leaving Marvel with no need to explain Red Hulk’s origin story.

What can the audience expect from Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World?

Plot details are understandably being kept under wraps for Captain America: Brave New World, but there have been some hints at what to expect from the upcoming movie. The end of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier confirmed that Sam Wilson is the new Captain America, and 2025 will see him don the famous shield.

As for Red Hulk, it’s unclear if he will be the main villain in the movie, but the casting of Harrison Ford does hint that his role in the sequel will be very big. Marvel had a panel at CinemaCon 2024, and they did reveal a few things about Ford’s character in Captain America: Brave New World. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross will be the President of the United States, and for the first time in the MCU timeline, he will no longer be sporting a mustache, like his predecessor, William Hurt did in previous movies. Ford is no stranger to playing the POTUS, after his iconic role in the classic 90s action thriller, Air Force One, is still fresh in the minds of his many fans.

The footage released at CInemaCon also revealed a tease of the state of the relationship between Ross and Wilson, with tension at the center of it. This could quite possibly lead to Ross’ transformation into Red Hulk, and a big blow up between the two characters. There is a suggestion that Red Hulk could feature as a big part in the Thunderbolts movie, which will be released mere months after Captain America: Brave New World in 2025, and this would fit in with how he appears in the comics. Fans will have to wait until February 2024 for confirmation on where the character of Red Hulk is heading.