Thaddeus Ross becomes the President of the United States in Captain America: Brave New World, and one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most controversial properties may explain his unlikely victory. In his previous appearances in the MCU timeline, Ross is often an antagonist, pursuing Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk and attempting to regulate The Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. In Brave New World, Ross arguably takes the role of an anti-villain whose exploitation of Samuel Sterns results in the latter’s revenge-driven schemes and Ross’s transformation into the MCU’s Red Hulk.

Sterns notes that he helped Ross win the presidency, using his gamma-enhanced abilities and understanding of probability for Ross’s benefit. Even with this in mind, it is arguably difficult to believe that the public would rally behind Ross, given his oppositional history to The Avengers and Bruce Banner in particular – who became a beloved hero in 2012. The events of Secret Invasion may provide an additional explanation for Thaddeus Ross’s presidential victory.

Thaddeus Ross Had Help From The Leader…& An Easy Opponent

In addition to advice from the Leader, Thaddeus Ross most likely also benefited greatly from having an extremely easy opponent: James Ritson – who is the US President in Secret Invasion. During the events of the series, then-President Ritson developed extreme anti-alien sentiment following his manipulation and attempted ᴀssᴀssination by Skrull extremists. By the ending of Secret Invasion, Ritson had vowed to kill every Skrull on Earth and presented a bill to Congress that would designate “all off-world born species enemy combatants.”

Ritson’s anti-alien extremism would theoretically make him widely unpopular with the American populace. Aside from Skrulls, the beloved founding member of The Avengers – Thor – would become an enemy of the US if Ritson’s bill was pᴀssed. In addition to Thor, all other Asgardians living on Earth and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy would be designated enemy combatants, and it is difficult to believe that American voters would support a president who opposes and actively threatens the safety of many of the heroes who helped resurrect the victims of Thanos’s Snap.

Thaddeus Ross Was Warming Up To The MCU’s Heroes While Ritson Was Turning On Them

However genuine Thaddeus Ross might have been about his more positive view of The Avengers, he likely conveyed the image of someone who was changing his mind about the world’s superheroes, especially if he had alluded to his plans to try and rebuild The Avengers during his campaign. Ritson, meanwhile, would be correctly seen as a violent opponent to said heroes. Even with Ross’s questionable past, he almost certainly looked like a more appealing candidate than James Ritson, which would have helped in earning him the presidency by Captain America: Brave New World.

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