It’s official! Though rumors have been swirling for a while now, Harrison Ford has now officially signed on to assume the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He will make his debut in Captain America: New World Order which is set to hit theaters on May 3, 2024.
Harrison Ford takes over the role of Ross from William Hurt, who depicted the character in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and last year’s Black Widow. Academy Award winner Hurt died of complications from prostate cancer in March of this year at the age of 71.
It’s not known what role Ross will play in New World Order as the plot (as usual) is being kept under wraps. Anthony Mackie will return as Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, a role that he assumed in the Disney+ miniseries Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Tim Blake Nelson will return as Samuel Sterns, a role he played in The Incredible Hulk, which ended with a tease that Sterns will become the gamma-powered supervillain The Leader.
New World Order will also feature Shira Haas as the Israeli superhero Sabra, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, and Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley. Ramirez and Lumbly’s characters also first appeared in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Torres is expected to become the new Falcon, now that Sam is Captain America. Lumbly’s Bradley was a former super-soldier whose powers caused great harm to his mental and physical health. In the comics, his grandson, Eli (played by Elijah Richardson) became the Young Avenger Patriot. In various projects, Marvel has been teasing the cinematic introduction of the Young Avengers, so this may be touched on in New World Order.
This Marvel installment boasts a script by Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson. Julius Onah will direct.
It is expected that Ford’s Ross will also play a major role in the upcoming film *ahem* Thunderbolts. That film also features Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/US Agent), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Valentina Allegra de Fontaine).
Ford is no stranger to massive franchises with his two most famous roles being those of Han Solo in the Star Wars saga and Indiana Jones in the self-titled film series. Ford returns as Indiana Jones in the fifth, as-yet-untitled film in the franchise which will be released on June 30, 2023. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1985 film Witness. Among his other notable films are Blade Runner, Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, and Air Force One. He will next star in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking.
You can catch Ford as Thunderbolt Ross when Captain America: New World Order opens on May 3, 2024.
