The latest installment into Marvel Studios’ star-spangled franchise, Captain America: Brave New World, continues a Marvel storytelling pattern that has been persistent for over a decade. Just as Captain America: The Winter Soldier continued the stories of both Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff or how Thor: Ragnarok divided time between the god of thunder and Bruce Banner, Brave New World continues Sam Wilson’s leading man arc while also bow-tying 17-year-old stories from The Incredible Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk has largely been treated as the ugly duckling of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Edward Norton-led origin story was ignored by the greater universe’s canon after Norton left the role and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo. That changed in 2016 when William Hurt reprised his role as Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Civil War, the first actor from The Incredible Hulk to return to the MCU.
Ross, now played by Harrison Ford, returns again for Captain America: Brave New World, and he is joined by fellow The Incredible Hulk alumni Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) and Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). ScreenRant spoke with veteran Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore to discuss why Captain America: Brave New World was the right film to revisit The Incredible Hulk‘s numerous scrapped storylines.
Marvel Producer Addresses Captain America 4’s Incredible Hulk Storylines
“It Was Less About Revisiting That Film Specifically…”
Captain America: Brave New World‘s reliance on The Incredible Hulk lore all boils down to Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.
“Honestly, the bulk of it was because we knew this film was going to have Thaddeus Ross become the new president,” Marvel producer Nate Moore explained. “We like the idea of Captain America being put on opposite sides of issues from the President of the United States, the leader of the country that he represents, and we like the idea of Thaddeus Ross sort of continuing the arc from Civil War where he was Secretary of State.”
Ross stands as one of Marvel’s most tenured characters. As Moore detailed, he began his journey in the year that the MCU was born and has worked his way up the political ladder to take on the most powerful non-superhero position in the world.
“You’re starting to explore Thaddeus Ross and maybe some of the things that he wishes he could take back, including the destruction of his relationship with his daughter,” Moore continued, alluding to the rift between Thaddeus and Betty at the end of The Incredible Hulk. “Then we went, what else is back there? What else could we do? And I think that Sam Wilson sees President Ross in a certain light. I think Betty has a certain relationship with her father, and I think Samuel Sterns has an opinion about Ross as well.”
“It was less about revisiting [The Incredible Hulk] specifically and more about building out the world of the new President Ross and exploring sort of where he was and where he is now.”
Is Brave New World The Start Of A New Captain America Trilogy?
“There’s Opportunities For A Ton More Stories To Tell…”
Regardless of the various MCU films that Brave New World attempts to address, it still remains a Captain America story at its core, this time with Sam Wilson embodying the star-spangled man.
“I will say part of why we feel so confident in Sam Wilson is that he has been with Steve for so long that he understands what taking the mantle means, right?” Moore explained. “If you think about it, he was with Steve in The Winter Soldier and Civil War. He was on the run with Steve. He was an Avenger with Steve.
To us, it feels like the natural progression for the character.
“He more than anyone understands what it takes to be Captain America and hey, the man himself, Steve Rogers, gave Sam the shield. So, to us, it feels like the natural progression for the character.”
And as for where that natural progression goes from here, Wilson’s next order of business will be linking back up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Doomsday. Outside of the team-ups, Moore admitted that Marvel’s ambition is to launch a new Captain America trilogy with Anthony Mackie at the helm.
“Yeah, I think so. That’s the hope, right? We never want to count our chickens before they hatch,” Moore said. “I do think, again, if audiences feel like we’ve done our jobs, there’s opportunities for a ton more stories to tell with Sam Wilson as Captain America.”
Check out our other Captain America: Brave New World interviews with…
- Anthony Mackie
- Danny Ramirez
- Director Julius Onah
Captain America: Brave New World is now in theaters.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
