Harrison Fordwill replace William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Marvel’sCaptain America: New World Order. The news has the internet buzzing, as rumors of the casting have been floating around for a while. At first, unconfirmed reports came from Los Angeles Magazine critic Jeff Sneider who reported it onThe Hot Micpodcast. Word spread quickly, and after cycling through smaller media outlets,Deadlineconfirmed on Monday that Harrison Ford would be playing General Thunderbolt Ross, AKA the Red Hulk. Fans have already started experimenting with how Harrison Ford wouldlook like Ross.
The storied actor has been a part of science fiction culture since his days of playing Han Solo inStar Warsand is known for playing the hero in many classic epics likeBlade Runner,The Fugitive, and theIndiana Jonesfranchise. Now Harrison Ford will lend his legendary talent to a role that MCU fans have very much wanted to see filled since William Hurt’s unfortunate passing. Harrison Ford is a great talent to play Thunderbolt Ross, but it’s a rare thing to see Ford take the role of a villain. One also wonders what kind of energy the 80-year-old actor will bring to a raging Red Hulk. And with Marvel’s emphasis on explaining a change in actors playing a role, how will they honor William Hurt in this switch to Harrison Ford?
Is Harrison Ford Playing Thunderbolt Ross?
The internet is going crazy for Harrison Ford’s casting as the new Red Hulk. But is he actually playing him? There is very little evidence that Ford has been cast besides hearsay. Columnist and critic for LA Magazine Jeff Sneider went on the podcastThe Hot Micand said to all the show’s followers that Ford would be standing in for William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross in the MCU. From there, the rumor spread like wildfire. Everyone was reporting that Ford had been cast. Fans went nuts and began making art immediately. Even without confirmation, we all seemed excited enough that it might be happening to just believe that it already was.
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Deadline confirmed the report in an exclusive, but they mentioned no other source besides Sneider, who mentioned no source himself.Varietyfollowed the story and tried to check with Marvel Studios to see if the rumors were actually true. But Variety’s article states that Marvel declined to comment on the situation.
So, despite a great amount of noise around this rumor, there has been no official announcement from either Marvel or Harrison Ford as to whether he is actually playing the role. Of course, this could turn into a situation where fans end up casting a movie. The buzz around Harrison Ford could start giving studio execs ideas; they could follow up with Ford, who might agree to act. But the real truth of this situation is still in the dark, despite reporters staking their reputations on it.
Harrison Ford as the Red Hulk
That being said, there’s no harm in speculating. If Harrison Ford is indeed to play General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, how would he play it? William Hurt brought great energy to the role – and the perfect mustache. One wonders if we’ll see Harrison Ford do his best to mimic that energy – and that mustache – or if he’ll give us a new take on the role.
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Now that the MCU has expanded to include the Multiverse, the Time Variants Authority, and Skrull impersonators, it has a lot of canon opportunities to explain quite easily why an actor would change. William Hurt’s departure could be reasoned by any one of these useful tools. Or the MCU might choose to honor Hurt’s death in a similar way that the upcomingWakanda Foreverwill honor Chadwick Boseman. Perhaps this Thaddeus Ross will be more aggressive, more villainous, and quicker to make his change into the Red Hulk. His role in the comics was to hunt down Bruce Banner, after all.
But now that IMDb listsHarrison Ford as castin bothCaptain America 4and Marvel’s misfit antihero filmThunderbolts, it’s likely that the MCU is bringing Harrison Ford in to play the frustratingly manipulative, somewhat nefarious Thunderbolt Ross, that controls the Thunderbolts in the comics. This would be a different kind of role in which to see Harrison Ford. He isn’t known for playing angry, villainous characters.
At most, Ford has been a struggling antihero who can overcome society’s judgments of his moral dubiousness with a sly charm. The characters that Harrison Ford plays have been fundamentally good behind that thin veneer of being a “scoundrel.” Should Ford take on this role, it will be interesting to see what he brings to it. He will have to summon an anger, perhaps we haven’t seen from the actor before, to turn Gen. Ross into a serious Red Hulk.
