There's a brand new status quo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of our newest Captain America. But it's not the new iteration of the star-spangled man that has people talking.
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00:00There's a brand new status quo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of our newest
00:05Captain America. But it's not the new iteration of the star-spangled man that has people talking.
00:10For those who didn't end up keeping tabs on 2021's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series
00:14on Disney+, it's been a long wait to see a payoff to the tease in Avengers Endgame in
00:19which Chris Evans' Steve Rogers officially retired from the role of Captain America and
00:23passed the mantle down to Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson. That moment has finally arrived
00:27with the first teaser for the next film in the series, fittingly titled Captain America
00:31— Brave New World.
00:33That's not the only noteworthy highlight included in the footage, however. Among the many teases
00:38of high-flying action for the superhero formerly known as Falcon, the addition of Giancarlo
00:42Esposito as a mysterious villain, and even a certain Red Hulk getting into the action,
00:47the murky politics of this fourth Captain America film takes center stage with the tenuous
00:51alliance between Sam Wilson and presidential candidate Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross. And,
00:56in a continuation of franchise tradition, the studio wasted no time directly addressing
01:00one of the more talked-about recasting scenarios in the entire shared universe.
01:05Back in 2022, it was reported that the role of Thaddeus Ross — previously portrayed
01:09by the late great character actor William Hurt — would undergo a major recasting for
01:14Brave New World in the form of legendary film icon Harrison Ford. But this is hardly the
01:18first time that Marvel president Kevin Feige has been forced to take a detour and make
01:22the best of an unfortunate behind-the-scenes situation. True to form, the new trailer
01:26dipped into a familiar bag of tricks to highlight the elephant in the room.
01:30But first, there's one thing that every Marvel fan knows about the character of Thunderbolt
01:34Ross. The military general who first made his name hunting down Bruce Banner in 2008's
01:39The Incredible Hulk is not to be trifled with and doesn't go down without a fight. For
01:43some time, it seemed as if Marvel was content to pretend that the divisively-received movie
01:48simply never happened in the first place — not least of all because the Hulk himself had
01:52undergone a recasting of his own, with Mark Ruffalo taking over the role for original
01:56actor Ed Norton in 2012's The Avengers.
01:59Over the years, however, the MCU has taken several steps towards reintegrating the franchise's
02:03red-headed stepchild into the overall property — first by having Hurt reprise his role
02:08as Ross in Captain America Civil War, and then having the Abomination pop up a few times
02:12down the line. Now, Ross is gearing up to make his biggest and most permanent mark on
02:17the MCU yet as President of the United States in Captain America Brave New World, but sans
02:23his trademark mustache this time around. Marvel wisely opted not to force Harrison Ford to
02:28grow out a stache of his own or, worse, sport a fake one that would distract viewers every
02:32second that he was on screen. Instead, the Brave New World creative team opted for a
02:37more comedic approach — have Sam Wilson hang a lampshade on the recasting.
02:41I have to admit, I'm still getting used to the new look.
02:44They said, uh, lose the mustache or lose the election.
02:47If it worked before, why not try it all over again? That seems to have been the thought
02:52process behind getting fans used to the idea of seeing Ford step into the shoes of Thunderbolt
02:56Ross for the first time in the series.
02:58Even before Marvel hired Ruffalo to take over for Norton, the studio faced an even more
03:02difficult decision in 2010 for Iron Man 2. The original actor to play Colonel James Rhodes
03:08in the first Iron Man, Terrence Howard, infamously parted ways with the franchise over disputes
03:12over his pay for the bigger-budgeted sequel. When Don Cheadle was brought on board to put
03:16his own spin on the character for the film and beyond, Marvel decided to handle the somewhat
03:21awkward passing of the torch with a comedic touch.
03:23Hey, buddy. Didn't expect to see you here.
03:26Look, it's me. I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on.
03:29I just—
03:30Drop it.
03:31Now that's how you put an unpleasant bit of business behind you as fast as humanly
03:36The context surrounding Brave New World isn't nearly as fraught as what plagued much of
03:40Iron Man 2, of course, but it's easy to see why the decision-makers would take their cues
03:44from one of the franchise's more mixed efforts in order to add a moment of lightness and
03:48humor. If anyone had to fill in for Hurt as Ross, Marvel clearly picked the best man for
03:53the job.
03:54Captain America Brave New World hits theaters February 14th, 2025.