MCU's The Leader Merch Misled Fans About the Villain's Final Design (Photos)

Samuel Sterns' final design in Captain America: Brave New World defied expectations.

By Lauren Rouse Posted:
Marvel The Leader, Anthony Mackie

Fans were surprised that The Leader's design in Marvel merchandise differed from his appearance in Captain America: Brave New World.

The new Captain America film brings back many characters that were last seen in The Incredible Hulk, including Samuel Sterns (played by Tim Blake Nelson). 

Sterns was introduced as a mysterious scientist in the 2008 film who offered Bruce Banner a cure for his condition (with alternate motives). The last time he was on screen, he mutated after some of Banner's blood seeped into a head wound. 

The Leader Received a Surprising Design Change

Following the announcement that Samuel Sterns would return in Captain America 4, fans had high expectations for what he may look like as his mutated alter ego, The Leader.

A few months before Captain America: Brave New World's release, some official Funko Pop! tie-ins appeared online, including one for The Leader, revealing the character's supposed design:

The Leader Funko Pop Design
Funko

Initially somewhat underwhelming, the figurine's design showed The Leader with green skin, hair, and a beard.

Other marketing materials for Captain America: Brave New World promoted the character. In this version, he maintained the same green color, hair, and beard but added a larger head—more akin to his mutated cranium in Marvel Comics.

Samuel Sterns/The Leader in Captain America 4 marketing
Marvel

However, when it came to the character's appearance in the movie itself, fans found The Leader's design in Marvel's marketing inaccurate.

Samuel Sterns' depiction in Captain America: Brave New World still features The Leader's green skin, but the similarities end here. 

The Leader in Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel Studios

Rather than an enlarged skull, Sterns has what looks like an exposed brain forming out of his head. He also has vibrant, glowing green eyes but no beard or hair, making him look more like a Skrull than anything else. 

Why Did The Leader's Design Change?

While The Leader's design is still distinctive in Captain America 4, it is not at all what fans were expecting based on Marvel's marketing and merchandise. So why the change?

Tim Blake Nelson told Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that he agreed to return as Sterns on the basis they do The Leader's makeup practically:

"I had only one request, which was that we realize the character practically and they were willing to do that. Of course, if they'd said no, I still would have done it. But I wanted to really have the look and the weight of the character and look in the mirror and see the deformation of the character and have the other actors experience that."

This may have contributed to The Leader's new design, as the character's enlarged cranium in the comics may have been difficult to achieve in practice. Meanwhile, the exposed brain-type look the film ultimately chose could have been achieved more easily with a wig and prosthetics. 

That still leaves the question of why The Leader was marketed as looking so different from the final design, particularly as the images were released long after shooting on Captain America 4 had finished.

Rumors circulated that the MCU film underwent extensive reshoots, so it could be that The Leader's design changed during this process, but by then, it may have been too late to change the marketing materials.


Captain America: Brave New World is in theatres now (read the spoiler-filled plot breakdown here).

Release Date
February 14, 2025
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: Lauren Rouse
Lauren Rouse has been a writer at The Direct since the site launched in 2020. She has a huge passion for everything pop culture and currently writes news articles for the Marvel, Star Wars, DC and video game branches.