Captain America: Brave New World’s Tim Blake Nelson Teases Comic-Accurate Leader Look

Tim Blake Nelson may be rocking a comic-accurate appearance as the Marvel villain Leader in Captain America: Brave New World. 2024 was originally going to include the releases of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, but both films have been pushed back to 2025. The fourth Captain America movie even got a name change, which was originally Captain America: New World Order. While all the discussion has been about Harrison Ford’s possible transformation into Red Hulk, we shouldn’t overlook the Marvel Cinematic Universe return of Tim Blake Nelson, who played Samuel Sterns in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. The movie ended with a tease of Nelson becoming the Hulk villain, The Leader, and now the actor is suggesting he’ll have a comic-accurate look in Captain America: Brave New World.

ComicBookMovie.com spoke to Tim Blake Nelson for his latest project, Asleep in My Palm. He was asked about returning as Samuel Sterns / The Leader in Captain America: Brave New World, where he talked about his Leader appearance.

“Really excited. I had a great time filming it,” Nelson said. “And [I] worked with the Marvel team and this wonderful makeup artist named David Atherton with whom I’ve collaborated on a dozen movies now.”

“I think people are going to be pretty excited about what this guy looks like. And what he has to say and what he does,” he added. “All power to the amazing team over there at Marvel.” While Nelson didn’t point to his Leader gaining a giant head and green skin, it may be a foregone conclusion after reading his comments. 

Captain America: Brave New World crew jacket points to Red Hulk’s MCU debut

Harrison Ford is replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, with his debut coming in Captain America: Brave New World. There have been numerous reports of Ford portraying Red Hulk in the movie and battling Anthony Mackie’s Cap, but a new piece of merchandise worn by a Brave New World crew member provides more evidence that Red Hulk is coming.

An image shared on the Marvel Studios Spoilers Reddit shows a red hand grasping Cap’s shield. That seems like a pretty strong indicator that Ford is going to Hulk out in the movie. While chatting with ComicBook.com last year, Ford claimed he didn’t know anything Red Hulk. 

“What is the Red Hulk?” Ford asked ComicBook.com during a chat in support of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. After a brief explainer, Ford turned it around on his co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, blaming her for not telling him about the character’s history. When asked if fans can expect to see Red Hulk’s first live-action appearance in Brave New World, Ford added that “it may or it may not” be included.

Captain America: Brave New World is set for release on February 14, 2025.