Marvel has Reportedly Cast Harrison Ford as the New Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross

Harrison Ford at D23 Expo 2022.

There has been chatter about this in the recent past (mostly about how it was supposed to be announced at last month’s D23 event but never materialized), but the idea that Harrison Ford will take on the mantle of the MCU’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has taken a big step closer to reality.

Reporters Jeff Sneider and John Rocha brought word on their Hot Mic Podcast that the iconic actor has indeed closed a deal to play Ross in at least a couple of upcoming MCU movies.

According to the pair’s sources – which tend to be solid – Ford will make his debut as the character in ‘Captain America: New World Order’ in May 2024 and have a bigger role to play in ‘Thunderbolts’, due in theaters July of that year.

Ross was introduced to the MCU in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ back in 2008. As originally played by William Hurt, he’s the stern, no-nonsense military man and father of Betty Ross (Liv Tyler in the movie). And he’s no fan of the idea that she’s in love with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, in his solo appearance as the character).

The Hulk connection has faded in the years since, but Ross has popped up a few times, including in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, where he is now the U.S. Secretary of State, pushing the Sokovia Accords, designed to limit superhero behavior.

He was also seen in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and his final appearance was in ‘Black Widow’ last year.

Hurt died in March of this year, and while there was thought that Marvel might simply retire the character (he’s not exactly a main player in the MCU), the decision has instead been made to cast Ford.

Marvel Studios' 'Captain America: New World Order.'

Of course, given the actor’s age, no-one expects him to be bounding around as a superhero, but since most of Ross’ scenes involved him gruffly demanding things of the Avengers, that’s certainly something Ford can handle.

And even if the studio does decide to go down the route of having Ross somehow transform into the powerful Red Hulk (as he has in the comics), well… that’s what stunt teams and visual effects are for.

Marvel has, somewhat predictably, said nothing so far about the casting, though the team at Slash Film were able to independently confirm the news.

Securing Ford would be a huge coup for Marvel, and certainly generate plenty of headlines.

Ross is a necessary part of the ‘Thunderbolts’ story, since he’s the one who puts the team (which in the movie will include Florence Pugh’s Yelena, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell’s US Agent, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster) together with the help of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina.

The wait begins to see when (or even if) Marvel decides to officially announce this, though there’s every chance Ford’s version of Ross could pop up in a future end credits sting.

Meanwhile, he’ll more solidly be back on our screens for the fifth ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, headed to theaters on June 30th next year.

Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts.'