Add Harrison Ford to a growing list of high-profile actors who might join the MCU. Ford certainly seems like the kind of actor that would fit well in the Marvel universe, even if he might not be the next death-defying superhero. Still, the prospect of Harrison Ford becoming Marvel’s next Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is certainly exciting.
After all, crazier Marvel rumors have come true. And advancements in movie-making technology can certainly help with any age-related issues. Mind you, some spoilers might follow.
We last saw Thunderbolt Ross in Black Widow, a character William Hurt played in the MCU. Hurt passed away, however, well before he could form his Thunderbolts team. Rumors said that Ross would become the MCU’s Red Hulk, and that a Thunderbolts movie was in the works.
Marvel already confirmed the Thunderbolts project at Comic-Con 2022 and introduced several key members of the team at D23 Expo. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) are on the team.
There hasn’t been any talk about Thunderbolt Ross, and Harrison Ford’s name did not come up during Marvel’s D23 event.
However, the actor was present at the event to talk about Indiana Jones 5. Needless to say, the Thunderbolts will need a leader other than Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
Will Harrison Ford star in Thunderbolts?
Jeff Sneider revealed on the Hot Mic podcast that Harrison Ford “either is or was the studio’s top choice to star in Thunderbolts as the General himself.” It’s unclear whether the actor accepted the role or not.
Marvel might not have recast Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa role for Wakanda Forever. But it might have no choice with Thunderbolt Ross. That certainly makes the Harrison Ford involvement all the more exciting.
Sneider said on the podcast that Marvel wanted to announce Harrison Ford as a Thunderbolts member at D23 Expo. But they stopped short of doing it as Disney’s Kathleen Kennedy put her foot down. She reportedly wanted to keep all focus on Indiana Jones 5 when it comes to Ford.
As exciting as the Indiana Jones sequel might be, having Harrison Ford in the MCU would have been even bigger news at D23.
That said, we still expect to see Marvel add more members to the Thunderbolts team in the future. Hopefully, Harrison Ford will be one of them.
Thunderbolts premieres on July 6th, 2024. Production will have to start soon, at which point we’ll find out more details about the cast.
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