The late William Hurt had ambitions of returning to his MCU character prior to his 2022 death.
Captain America: Brave New World will see Sam Wilson contend with threats coming from multiple directions.
With global tension brewing over control of adamantium, a United States president that Sam doesn’t see eye to eye with, and a hidden but familiar threat seemingly pulling all the strings, Cap will have his work cut out for him.
William Hurt Was Ready for Red Hulk
In a sit-down with Entertainment Weekly, Captain America: Brave New World producer Nate Moore offered several interesting details on Marvel Studios’ next movie. Among them was the revelation that before passing away in March 2022, William Hurt was ready and raring to play Thaddeus Ross again.
Moore explained that Hurt was "very excited" to return for Brave New World and that the actor’s death came as a surprise for the studio:
"He was very excited to come back, to be quite frank. When he passed, it was a surprise. You figure out if it's worth proceeding with the story you have or trying something else."
William Hurt portrayed Ross in five MCU films: The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow.
He started his arc as a high-ranking army general who was doggedly tracking Bruce Banner to bring him in for the crimes committed by Bruce’s bigger, greener alter-ego.
Thaddeus Ross did not appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for another eight years. He eventually resurfaced in Civil War as the U.S. Secretary of State and one of the masterminds behind the Sokovia Accords.
Hurt’s next couple of Marvel parts consisted of Ross acting as a thorn in the heroes’ sides, trying to bring them in line, as he saw it. In Ross’ most recent appearance from Black Widow, he looked much thinner than usual, likely as a result of Hurt’s real-life battle with prostate cancer.
As Moore mentioned, though, Thaddeus Ross lives on in the MCU despite William Hurt’s passing. The character was recast with the legendary Harrison Ford, starting with Captain America: Brave New World.
And, as has been shown repeatedly in the movie’s marketing, Captain America 4 will see Ross become the fearsome Red Hulk.
Harrison Ford Will Prove a Worthy Successor to William Hurt
Harrison Ford has put his stamp on almost too many iconic characters to count over the years. This includes roles as Blade Runner’s Rick Deckard, man-on-the-run Dr. Richard Kimble in 1993’s The Fugitive, and even another president in Air Force One (and yes, he was Han Solo and Indiana Jones too, of course).
The now-82-year-old Ford spoke recently about having to have more fun at this stage in his career.
He told Variety that he had a "great time" working on Cap 4:
"I don’t mean to disparage it. I’m just saying you have to do certain things that normally your mother would not want you to do — or your acting coach, if you had one. But it’s fun, and I enjoyed it. I had a great time, and I’m delighted at the response that we got with the trailer."
But Ford did not phone it in during his time on the Marvel sequel. Quite the contrary, as Nate Moore noted to Entertainment Weekly, the actor was intrigued by the opportunity to carry on the work William Hurt had done:
"Harrison saw it, I think, as an opportunity both to honor William's work and to continue that character arc, which Harrison thought was really interesting in the other movies."
Not only that, but Ford was reportedly gung-ho to jump into the motion capture element of his performance, which is used when Ross transforms into Red Hulk.
Moore remarked that Ford was "all in" with the mo-cap (likely much to the delight of Thunderbolts* star David Harbour) and even insisted on doing his own movement work:
"Lemme tell you, he was all in that morning. The last thing you want is to be the person that hurts Harrison Ford. At one point, I needed him landing and thought we can have the stunt guy do it. He's like, 'No, no, no! I'll do it.' I put up an apple box that's about two feet off the ground. I'm like, 'I need you to jump down onto the ground and land as a Hulk.' He did it about a dozen times, and every single time, I held my breath, but he went all in."
It was Harrison Ford himself who reached out to Marvel boss Kevin Feige, wanting to know if the studio had any roles he could take on, as Moore recounted:
"It just so happened that Harrison Ford reached out to Kevin Feige about potentially playing in the Marvel sandbox."
Harrison Ford has a reputation for being something of a grumpy old man, a quality that often finds its way into the characters he plays.
But it’s important to remember that Ford has been acting for nearly 60 years. Clearly, he thoroughly enjoys his job, and it’s commendable that he wants to try new things and have new acting experiences.
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World flies into theaters on February 14, 2025.
