Harrison Ford adds the Marvel Cinematic Universe to his actor’s belt as Marvel Studios mean to cast him as the new Thunderbolt Ross. Presently, the Phase 5 movie Thunderbolts is in pre-production. Officially, Marvel announced Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as cast. All this time, Marvel has been looking for someone to portray the character that the late William Hurt has left behind. The upcoming movie needs its Thaddeus Ross.
Many sites have speculated that Ford is in the forefront of the actors that Marvel has been considering to take on the role. Just these past few days, cbr.com writes that Harrison Ford has indeed accepted the role. This is also in slashfilm.com’s report.
Harrison Ford Enters Marvel Studios As Thunderbolt Ross
Image: Marvel Studios
In fact, the report states that Ford will not only appear as Thunderbolt Ross in the movie Thunderbolts on July 26, 2024. They say he will also appear in the Captain America: New World Order two months prior to that, which is May 3, 2024. Unless these movies will experience any delay as with what happened recently from Marvel’s Blade, the dates will remain the same.
Marvel comics provides the origin of Thunderbolt Ross. He is a primary character for Hulk. Interestingly, he got his nickname from his younger years in the military. At the time, his troops describe his leadership style to appear as if he strikes like a thunderbolt during missions. When he became General, he became obsessed with hunting the Hulk down. Eventually, in his pursuit to defeat Hulk, Ross became the Red Hulk. In every encounter, he never got to fully defeat Banner’s Hulk. There are even comic book issues where Hulk earned Ross’ respect thus allowing Banner to marry his daughter Betty.
Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has been actively recruiting for her team. What people will generally describe as Marvel’s counterpart to DC Comics’ Suicide Squad, Thunderbolts comprise of not-so-heroic individuals with special abilities. They are the team that takes on highly classified, highly dangerous missions for the government. Particularly, the team comprises Pugh’s Black Widow, Stan’s Winter Soldier, Harbour’s Red Guardian, Russell’s U.S. Agent, Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, and John-Kamen’s Ghost.
Harrison Ford Enters Marvel Studios As Thunderbolt Ross
Image: Lionsgate
The specific plot of the Thunderbolts is still under tight wraps. However, the imminent announcement of Harrison Ford as the movie’s Thaddeus Ross is very much welcome news. Fans from other franchises under Lucasfilm absolutely love him. Need we say Star Wars and Indiana Jones? Adding Marvel to his credits would be a marvelous sight. Definitely, people can see Ford rocking the uniform and giving the strict military man persona that Ross is very well known for. With the plan for him to even transform into the Red Hulk, it’s absolutely exciting to finally see.
Mark Ruffalo‘s Bruce Banner/Hulk has been somewhat neglected, if some fans are to say so. The next phase for Hulk is to inevitably get into a face-off with the Red Hulk. With Ross coming back into the MCU, chances are getting better at actually seeing the Green vs Red bout.
Let’s see if Hulk can still SMASH!
