Marvel’s Powerful Captain America 4 Villain Can Fix A Long-Running MCU Problem

An old villain from Phase 1 of the MCU is set to return in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, which could address a major criticism aimed at some of the MCU’s most powerful adversaries. Following the finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in April 2021, writers Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson were confirmed to be developing a fourth Captain America project, planned to continue Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson story as Captain America. Director Julius Onah joined in July 2022, making Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World an exciting addition to the MCU’s Phase 5.

As well as marking the return of Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Captain America: Brave New World’s cast also includes Danny Ramirez as the MCU’s new Falcon, Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley, Shira Haas’ mutant Sabra, and Xosha Roquemore, Seth Rollins and Rosa Salazar in undisclosed roles. Captain America: Brave New World will also feature a number of Hulk-related characters, including Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, as well as Tim Blake Nelson’s Dr. Samuel Sterns, who will be returning as a powerful new villain in the MCU’s Phase 5, the Leader.

How Samuel Sterns’ Leader Is Returning In Captain America: Brave New World

Introduced in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk as a cellular biologist who had been helping Bruce Banner try and find a cure for the Hulk, Tim Blake Nelson’s Dr. Samuel Sterns provided one of the MCU’s longest-running teases ever. After failing to cure the Hulk, but providing the equipment necessary to transform Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky into the Abomination, Sterns himself was exposed to Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood. The last time viewers saw Sterns, his head was having a reaction to Banner’s blood, teasing his transformation into the Leader, a powerful villain in Marvel Comics, but he hasn’t been heard from since.

In September 2022, Tim Blake Nelson was confirmed to be returning as Samuel Sterns’ Leader in Captain America: Brave New World, after what will have been a 17-year absence from the MCU. 2012’s Avengers Prelude MCU tie-in comic revealed that Sterns had been apprehended and taken into SHIELD custody shortly after The Incredible Hulk’s ending, though he hasn’t been seen or heard from in live-action since the 2008 movie. Speaking to Comicbookmovie.com in February 2024, Nelson noted that people will be “pretty excited” to see the Leader’s transformation, and his return to the MCU could break an age-old villain problem.

Really excited. I had a great time filming it, 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. All power to the amazing team over there at Marvel.

The Leader Is One Of Marvel Comics’ Longest-Running Villains

Samuel Sterns’ Leader made his Marvel Comics debut back in 1964’s Tales to Astonish #62, making him one of the Marvel Universe’s longest-running villains, at least from those introduced in the new Marvel Age of Comics (1961 onwards). While the Leader’s origin story in Marvel Comics isn’t tied to the Hulk, as Sterns transformed into the super-intelligent villain via a separate gamma radiation-related incident, the Leader’s obsession with the Hulk’s strength has brought them to odds many times over the years. The Leader is often regarded as one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic villains, which should translate into the MCU.

As well as being one of the Hulk’s most prominent threats in Marvel Comics, the Leader has also battled other powerful heroes, including Iron Man, the Punisher, Wolverine, She-Hulk and the Avengers. The Leader has dealings with Marvel Comics’ Intelligencia, is forced to work with the Thunderbolts, and forms alliances with other villains, including Mephisto, Chameleon and Rhino. As one of Marvel Comics’ most far-reaching and influential villains, the Leader shouldn’t simply be a one-and-done enemy in Captain America: Brave New World, but should instead be the one to fix a major, long-running criticism aimed at the MCU’s wasted villains.

Many MCU Villains Have Been Wasted In Previous Projects

Since the MCU began with 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel Studios has come under scrutiny for wasting some of Marvel Comics’ most powerful and memorable villains. Enemies who have stuck around in the comics for decades have often been relegated to one-time foes in the MCU’s live-action adventures, with them regularly being killed off in the same project in which they’re introduced. Aside from the likes of Thanos, Loki, HYDRA and Kingpin, many formidable MCU villains have only ever had brief appearances before being removed from the franchise completely, and this is a tragic trend that continues in more recent projects.

The list of one-and-done villains in the MCU is almost too long, and includes some of Marvel Comics’ most iconic foes, such as the Red Skull, Ultron, the Mandarin, the Vulture, Mysterio, Hela, Killmonger, Gorr the God Butcher, the High Evolutionary and even the Scarlet Witch. Not many MCU heroes have established archenemies like they have in Marvel Comics, simply because their villains don’t stick around long enough. However, Tim Blake Nelson’s return as the Leader in Captain America: Brave New World could finally turn this trend around, though Captain America, of course, isn’t the superhero he needs to battle.

There has been confusion about why Captain America: Brave New World features so many Hulk-related characters, without actually including Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, himself. While the project will surely answer these questions when it’s released in February 2025, the fact that the Hulk won’t make an appearance in Brave New World means that Marvel Studios must keep the Leader around for longer. The Leader and the Hulk battle numerous times in Marvel Comics, with the former becoming one of the latter’s most recognizable and long-lasting enemies, but the MCU is running the risk of them never meeting.

It’s currently unclear exactly when Mark Ruffalo will return as the Hulk in the MCU’s future, but when he does, the Leader would be the perfect villain for him to face. It could be revealed that the Leader has been scheming and pulling strings behind-the-scenes of the entire history of the MCU to play with Bruce Banner’s Hulk, potentially setting up an epic showdown in an undisclosed future adventure. If this is the case, Captain America: Brave New World could finally break the MCU’s disappointing villain trend, and perhaps set up both the Hulk and the Leader for huge futures.

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