Harrison Ford remains as active as ever in the Hollywood landscape, even having just celebrated his 80th birthday in July 2022. In the 2010s he had a couple of opportunities to reprise his fan-favorite role as Han Solo in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which is far from the last classic character he’s brought back to life in the 21st century.
Next year, he’ll continue that same trend by portraying the iconic Dr. Henry Jones for the fifth time as Indiana Jones 5 prepares to release on June 30. This will be his first theatrical release since 2020’s Call of the Wild, but it appears that he’s far from done bringing powerful and lovable heroes to the big screen.
Now, in a surprising development, Ford is even rumored to be in the running for a role within the ever-expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe, which could even come within the next couple of years.
Harrison Ford Joining the MCU?
The Ankler's Jeff Sneider, via The Hot Mic Podcast, shared a rumor that Harrison Ford may be involved with Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, which premieres in theaters on July 26, 2024.
According to the rumor, Ford is (or, at one point, was) Marvel Studios' top choice to play a recast Thunderbolt Ross, a role that has been played by the late William Hurt in five MCU movies.
Sneider also indicated that there were signs that Marvel considered announcing Ford's Thunderbolts role at Disney's D23 Fan Expo earlier this month, though Disney and Lucasfilm didn't want such a reveal to distract from Ford's return as Indiana Jones in his upcoming fifth movie.
Han Solo Star Might Join the MCU Family
Marvel Studios has certainly kept up its trend of bringing in top-notch stars to bring new life to the MCU, including big names like Raiders of the Lost Ark's Ke Huy Quan in Loki Season 2 and The Office's John Krasinski in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Now, Harrison Ford could potentially add his name to that impressive list of stars after already boasting a history in top-notch franchises over the years.
Ford would also qualify as one of the biggest classic names to join the MCU in some time, with the franchise already boasting veteran stars like Kurt Russell from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Bill Murray in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And with Ford's workload seemingly getting lighter as he moves into the later stages of his career, getting an MCU movie on his resume would unquestionably be a fun addition.
With Thunderbolts still being a couple of years away from its release, official confirmation for Ford may not come for some time (especially with filming not likely to begin until sometime in 2023). But with his star power alongside MCU regulars like Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, fans could be in for a special Marvel outing should he bring a revitalized Thunderbolt Ross back into the fray.
Thunderbolts will premiere in theaters on July 26, 2024.
