Harrison Ford is no stranger to successful movie franchises. In fact, he played the smuggler with a good heart in Han Solo and the snake-fearing, adventure-seeking archaeologist in Indiana Jones before it was cool.
SlashFilm has confirmed that the news of Marvel casting Harrison Ford as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, reported live on The Hot Mic with John Rocha and Jeff Sneider is true. The veteran actor will be filling the shoes of the late William Hurt in the role.
Hurt first introduced the character of “Thunderbolt” to the MCU fans in the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie with Ed Norton in the lead role of Dr. Bruce Banner.
In the post-credit scene of the movie, he was seen having a quick chat with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark aka Iron Man about forming a team, which obviously led into the Infinity Saga that stretched over the next decade.
Ford is reportedly going to debut as the character in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order movie. He will also play a significant role in the recently announced Thunderbolts movie starring Marvel’s most prominent anti-heroes.
The Star Wars actor will be seen alongside Sebastian Stan’s James “Bucky” Barnes aka the Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova aka the new Black Widow, and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr aka the Ghost. David Harbour and Olga Kurylenko will reprise their respective roles of Red Guardian and Taskmaster as well, while Wyatt Russell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus will bring back their John Walker and Contessa Fontaine characters.
While Hurt has always played Ross as the staunch military general in the movies, ready to scold the Avengers at the slightest inconvenience caused, fans are wondering if Ford will finally bring the Red Hulk alive on screen.
Harrison Ford in the Thunderbolts movie as Red Hulk would be awesome 🔥 pic.twitter.com/P60ahEymiQ
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) October 14, 2022
The movie, directed by Jake Schreier, is scheduled to release in July 2024 and is set to be the finale of MCU’s Phase 5.